Neon Genesis Evangelion: Legacy – One Shots: A Very Evangelion Xmas
by DarkBluePhoenix
Summary: A Christmas themed set of One Shots tying into the Neon Genesis Evangelion: Legacy timeline. Various Christmases will be portrayed in this feel good and WAFF filled portion of supplemental stories. So, grab some eggnog and roast some chestnuts on an open fire folks, and get ready to travel to Christmas' Past, Present, and Future!
1. One Shot 1 – A Very Mari Christmas

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Legacy  
One Shot – A Very Mari Christmas

* * *

For Silvermoonlight GJ

* * *

December 15, 2015 – Tokyo–3 Junior High School, Class 2–A

Mari was sitting patiently in class waiting for the bell to ring signaling lunch. She was starving, and also had a few questions to ask her friends.

'Come on you son of a bitch… ring!' Mari thought angrily. 'I'm fucking hungry over here!'

 ** _Ding dong ding ding… ding dong ding ding_**

"Rise… Bow… Sit!" Hikari said.

Toji and Kensuke grabbed Rei and ran from the room, and headed for the cafeteria.

'About fucking time…' Mari thought as she got up and slid over to Shinji's desk with a pleading look on her face. "Hiya, puppy… got lunch?"

"Of course, Mari…" Shinji said. "I'd hate to forget everyone's lunch."

"Yeah, if you did that, I wouldn't be very happy." Asuka said as she appeared on Shinji's other side. "You'd be in some serious shit, baka."

"Well, I'll do my best to never forget lunch." Shinji joked.

Shinji took out three bentos, handing one to Asuka, and one to Mari as Hikari and Rei sat down.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Mari asked.

"Not much, I'm just tired." Hikari replied.

"I am fine, thank you for asking, Mari." Rei said.

"So what are you all doing for Christmas?" Mari asked.

"Jeez, way to segway, four eyes." Asuka said.

"What, I'm curious!" Mari said. "I know you two are staying at the apartment, as is Misato. I was wondering if anyone else could come over."

"Oh, I can't." Hikari said. "I have my dad and sisters, I'd love to, but I can't."

"Hey, family comes first." Mari said.

"I know Sakura was happy Toji was going to be at the hospital for Christmas, and Kensuke's dad got the day off, so I guess it's just us, unless Rei has plans, she can come over, right?"

"Of course, as long as the blueberry is free." Mari said happily.

"I have no plans." Rei said. "I have never had any plans for Christmas."

"Awww, blueberry, you're coming over to our place." Mari said. "Be there Christmas Eve, ok?"

"I will be there but I do not have any gifts to give." Rei said.

"You don't need to bring any." Shinji said. "Presents aren't the only thing Christmas is about."

"No, I will bring a gift." Rei said. "I will bring tea."

"Rei, you're not supposed to tell us." Asuka said.

"Yeah, but we appreciate you bringing tea." Mari said.

"Well, still, don't forget to wish the rest of a Merry Christmas while you're enjoying yourselves." Hikari joked.

"We won't forget Hikari." Shinji Replied.

"Speaking of the rest of us…" Mari asked. "Hey, where's Laurel and Hardy?"

"Oh… they got in trouble for fighting." Rei said.

"What?!" Hikari shouted. "What for?!"

"Oh… someone called me a freak because of my hair and eyes, and Toji took great offence and threated to "pound the crap out of them" if they did not rescind their comments."

"I'm guessing they didn't take back their comments…" Shinji said.

"Precisely." Rei replied. "They decided to call me a few more names which by the looks on Toji and Kensuke's faces were not very kind. Toji then jumped on them and began to beat them up, and Kensuke jumped in to help. Both of them injured those other boys quite effectively, then security dragged them off somewhere."

"Jesus, I'll be back in a minute." Hikari said. "If I'm not back by the bell, Shinji, you'll deal with getting everyone to their seats."

"Me?" Shinji asked. "Are you nuts?"

"No, I just trust you the most to not abuse the power." Hikari said as she glanced at Asuka, and Mari, who both smiled devilishly.

"Yeah, she's right." Asuka said. "I would abuse it."

"So would I princess, so would I." Mari said.

"See, you're the best choice, Shinji." Hikari said. "Now I'm going to get those heroic idiots out of trouble. Rei, come with me, we'll set this straight."

"Alright, Hikari." Rei said as she got up and followed Hikari out of the room.

"So, are you two ready for Christmas?" Mari asked.

"Mari, you are awful at segwaying a conversation." Shinji said.

"Hey, I have a one track mind." Mari said. "And whatever happened to Rei, I'll make disappear with our Christmas party. She's coming over Christmas Eve, and she'll stay the night."

"Where, four eyes?" Asuka asked. "Our rooms are kinda full."

"We'll figure something out princess." Mari said. "Just relax and let me handle things."

"Yeah, just what we need…" Asuka said. "A lunatic running the show…"

"I may be a lunatic, but at least I admit it." Mari said. "Unlike some people…"

"And just what is that supposed to mean?" Asuka asked.

"Feeling persecuted are we?" Mari purred. "Feeling, cuckoo cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs?"

"Shut up, four eyes!" Asuka shouted.

"Ha!" Mari said. "Found the nerve!"

"I said to shut up!"

"Guys, in the spirit of Christmas, can you just… stop?" Shinji asked. "I'm not going to enjoy Christmas if I have to break up your fights constantly."

Mari pouted and gave Shinji a bone crushing hug. "I'm sorry puppy… I promise to leave the princess alone. We won't fight anymore, at least until next year anyway."

"Yeah, I won't start anything either…" Asuka said sheepishly. "I promise…"

"Wow, almost two weeks without you two fighting…" Shinji said. "It'll be a Christmas miracle…"

"Careful, baka!" Asuka snapped. "I said I wouldn't fight with her, I never said I wouldn't argue with you!"

"Alright, relax, Asuka, just enjoy the upcoming holiday." Shinji said brightly.

"Yeah, princess, what could possibly go wrong?" Mari asked.

* * *

December 19, 2015 – Comfort 17 Apartments

Mari was sitting alone at the apartment. She had skipped school that day in order to intercept several packages she had arriving from her online shopping spree.

"Jeez, you could never have done this in the 90s…" Mari said as she sat watching TV waiting for the delivery. "Using the internet to order shit, and having it rush shipped to your door in two days at no extra charge… completely fucking insane, but in the best possible way." Mari stretched as she heard the doorbell ring. "Yay! They're here!"

Mari went to the door and opened it to see a man in a brown uniform standing at the door.

"Miss, could you sign here please?" The man asked as he handed her a small digital tablet,

Mari took the tablet and signed her name in cursive. "Here you go." Mari said with a wide smile. "So… are these packages it?"

The man grimaced. "No, miss, these three were only ones I could bring up on the hand truck, there are nine more in the truck."

"Really, nine more?" Mari said happily. "I didn't realize I'd bought so much!"

The man smiled back. "Well, with all these boxes, your family should have a nice Christmas."

"Yeah… my family will have a nice Christmas." Mari replied happily as the man went back down to retrieve more of Mari's order.

After a short while, the delivery man had brought in all the packages, and Mari began to unpack them with gusto.

"Awesome, I have everything I need here to make this the best Christmas ever." Mari said brightly. "I just need to wrap the gifts first…" Mari said as she pulled out the brightly colored paper she had ordered, and then the various gifts she had bought. "Wow, these look eve cuter in person! I can't wait to see their reactions to all this stuff!"

In a flurry of tape and wrapping paper, with the occasional flash of the scissors, Mari wrapped everyone's gifts up and then placed them carefully on the couch. Mari moved onto the next set of boxes she had received and opened each of them up and looked at their contents with a devilish grin.

"Well then, with all the wrapping done, I guess I should get to work on getting this place into proper Christmas order… now where should I put the tree I bought…" Mari said happily. "May as well move all the shit we don't need in here out onto the veranda, it's not like we actually use that thing, do we?"

–––

Asuka was sitting quietly outside the mall. She had a few bags next to her with wrapped presents inside. Each one was for someone she considered a friend, a gift for each friend, minus Shinji. She looked at the bags and sighed.

"Well, at least this place offered to wrap the gifts, cause I'm no good at it really." Asuka said. "But that solves all my issues, except what to get Shinji…"

Asuka looked up to the sky and sighed again, deeply. "So, do I like him or not? They say Christmas Eve is the most romantic holiday there is in Japan… and I'll be spending it with him… but I'm not even sure I like him, yet I want to get him the perfect present… it's just a thank you though… for throwing me that surprise birthday party with all my favorite food… or do I want to impress him or something… god this sucks… I can't even make up my mind as to what to get him… I was able to get stuff for everyone else, but I want his to be special… I can't even make sense of my own mind… I hate when it won't let me choose what I'm feeling in my heart and forcing me to just use my brain to make decisions…"

Asuka looked back towards the mall. "Well, maybe they have the perfect gift, and I just need to go back in there and find it. Maybe I just didn't look hard enough… I just wish I knew what I was looking for…"

"The hell I didn't look hard enough!" Asuka said proudly. "I'm Asuka Langley Soryu, and no mall is going to keep me from finding the perfect gift for one of my best friends!" Asuka got up and went back inside the mall determinedly. "I don't care how long it takes, I'm finding Shinji the perfect gift to show how much I… appreciate him…"

–––

Shinji was walking through the store. He had a cart full of food and presents, but one present in particular was proving difficult to find, one for Asuka.

"What should I get Asuka?" Shinji asked himself. "I mean I can't get her anything too impressive, or can I?" Shinji kept walking around looking in vain for something to buy. "I mean, I like Asuka, but I don't want to buy her something too… intimate. I just need to find the perfect gift to express our friendship… but what should I get her… I don't want to get the wrong thing, otherwise she'll hate me, and I don't want her to hate me…"

Shinji kept looking around, seeing things he thought Asuka might like, but he couldn't really decide. "I want to find Asuka something, but I don't really know what she likes… it's not like we really talk a lot, at least about anything other than the EVAs or school… it's funny, I love Asuka, but I don't know anything about her… I mean I know her mother's dead, and that she can be kind sometimes, and she plays videogames, and I know when her birthday is, but everything else is a complete mystery… I guess I need to work on that if I want to truly say I love Asuka…" Shinji sighed. "You can't say you love a person and not know anything about them…"

Shinji kept walking around the store until he came upon something he thought Asuka might appreciate. "Wow, I think this might be it… its perfect for her… at least I hope it is…"

–––

Shinji and Asuka came upon each other as they approached the apartment. They were both carrying their purchases from their day out shopping, and both had wrapped gifts with them.

"Hey, Asuka." Shinji said. "Done shopping?"

"Yeah, got everything I needed." Asuka said. "Presents and all. What about you?"

"Yeah, I got everything." Shinji said nervously. "I just hope you like what I got you…"

"Shinji, you may be an idiot sometimes, but I doubt you could ever disappoint me." Asuka said.

"Really?" Shinji asked.

"Of course, baka!" Asuka said. "Are you questioning me?"

"No, I was just making sure…" Shinji said.

"Come on, let's go inside before you say something else stupid." Asuka said.

"What else could I say that's stupid?" Shinji asked. "What did I say that _was_ stupid?"

"Pretty much that… baka…" Asuka said shaking her head.

The two of them went up to the apartment and went inside, but were not expecting what they saw, an explosion of Christmas decorations.

"What in the fuck…" Asuka said.

"I'm not sure…" Shinji said. "It's like Christmas exploded in here…"

"Puppy! Princess!" Mari said happily, holding two Santa hats in her hand. "You're home! Gifts under the tree, now!"

"What…" Shinji said.

"What tree…" Asuka asked.

"The tree I bought dummies!" Mari said happily. "I wrapped your gifts and put them under there already. You need to do the same, now!"

"Do we have to?" Asuka asked.

"You bet your ass you do." Mari said threateningly. "Otherwise you won't like the consequences…"

"Fine, I'll put the things under the tree… where is it?" Asuka asked.

"Living room." Mari said. "Just follow me."

Asuka and Shinji followed Mari into the apartment and were dazzled by all the things she had but up, garland was everywhere, Christmas lights lined the ceiling and at the center of it all was an eight foot artificial Christmas tree with a massive star and hundreds of ornaments and several more strands of lights than it needed. There were several gifts already under the tree, and Mari was pointing to the tree threateningly.

"Put the gifts under there, otherwise you don't get Santa hats." Mari said.

"Fine…" Asuka said.

"Alright Mari." Shinji said. "Just stop being so serious."

"I have to be serious." Mari replied. "You guys deserve the best Christmas ever! That's why I bought all this stuff!"

"Where did you get the money…" Asuka said.

"You know we get paid, right?" Mari asked. "Like a lot…"

"Yeah, we know… we just don't go blowing our wad over it, four eyes." Asuka said.

"Well, I don't really need to buy anything…" Shinji said.

"Boring!" Mari said. "Online shopping is the best!"

"Great… just don't buy more stuff…" Asuka said.

"Oh, stop being such a Grinch, princess." Mari said.

"I'm not a Grinch!" Asuka shouted.

"Yeah, said the one who has no Christmas spirit." Mari purred.

"I'll show you Christmas spirit!" Asuka shouted.

"Hey!" Shinji said loudly. "What did I say about fighting?!"

"Not to…" Mari said sheepishly.

"Sorry baka…" Asuka said sadly.

"You both should be!" Shinji said. "No fighting till next year, that's what you both promised me."

"We know…" Asuka said. "It's just…"

"It's a bad habit puppy, we're sorry." Mari said.

"I'm glad." Shinji said. "Now if you two can keep from killing each other for a little while, I'm going to make dinner."

"We won't kill each other." Asuka said.

"Well, I could always just kill the princess with kindness…" Mari said as she hugged Asuka from behind.

"Mari… leave her alone." Shinji said. "She doesn't like being touched like that."

"Yeah, get your hands off my boobs, pervert!" Asuka said.

"Sorry, they were in the way, princess." Mari said. "Nice and supple too."

"Four eyes!" Asuka shouted.

"It's going to be along few weeks…" Shinji said sadly as he went to the kitchen.

Mari and Asuka looked at him as he walked away, and then looked at each other.

"Alright, to make sure baka stays happy, we can't fight anymore. At least not for a while anyway…" Asuka said.

"Alright, princess, I can do it if you can." Mari said. "Deal?"

"Deal." Asuka said. "Just don't cup my tits again."

"No promises, princess…" Mari said.

"Jesus… this will be impossible." Asuka said.

"No, just improbable." Mari said.

Asuka sighed and shook her head, then looked back up suddenly. "Oh shit…" Asuka said. "I just realized… what's Misato going to say when she gets home?"

"Who the fuck cares?" Mari said. "All I know is it'll be funny."

* * *

December 24, 2015 – Tokyo–3, Old Hakone Quarter

Rei was getting dressed to go over to the apartment for Christmas. She was putting on her school uniform for lack of any other choice. She looked at herself in the mirror as she pulled on her skirt.

"It feels very odd to get dressed and go somewhere besides school or NERV…" Rei said to herself. "I do not believe I have ever just gone somewhere without a purpose. The only day I can remember doing such a thing was not even me…" Rei sighed. "The day papa bought Mew…"

Rei looked over at the Mew sitting above her bed and smiled. "That is the only gift I have ever received… but now perhaps it will no longer be so…" Rei said. "I am very glad that Mari invited me over for Christmas… but I am still not sure what the custom if Christmas exactly is… I guess I will simply have to find out." Rei said. "I am… excited… at least I believe this is the appropriate emotion. I am going to be with all my friends. I cannot wait until I experience my first Christmas…"

Rei looked at the box of tea she had in a simple brown bag. "I just wish I could have thought of something more to bring besides tea… but if Mari, Asuka, and Shinji say it's alright, then I will trust my friends… because they care for me deeply."

Rei picked up the bag and went to put on her shoes. She looked around her apartment once more and then silently left and started her walk with a large smile on her face.

–––

Rei arrived at the apartment and knocked on the door. She waited patiently for a few minutes and knocked again and waited a few more moments before Shinji came and opened the door, wearing a Santa hat.

"Hi, Rei." Shinji said.

"Hello Shinji." Rei replied. "I apologize for being late."

"You're not late, Rei." Shinji said. "But why did you knock?"

"I did not know what else to do." Rei replied.

"You could ring the doorbell next time." Shinji said pointing to the button next to the door. "That way you don't have to wait for us for so long."

"I did not realize that is what that pad if for." Rei said. "I also have one at my apartment, but it apparently does not function."

"It's alright, Rei." Shinji said holding out a Santa hat. "Just put this on before you come in."

"Why?" Rei asked

"Otherwise Mari will be annoyed." Shinji said. "Trust me, it's easier on all of us if you do."

"Understood." Rei said.

Rei put on the hat and followed Shinji inside, and then saw the awesome decorations for herself. The entire apartment had been further decorated by Mari since she set things up a week before. There was now fake snow littering the living room, along with what looked like cotton tufts made to be clouds sparkling snowflake lights hanging from the ceiling.

Misato and Asuka were seated on the couch and had angry looks on their faces, while Mari was positively beaming.

"Blueberry!" Mari said happily. "You're finally here!"

"Yes, I am here." Rei said. "I brought tea."

"Rei, you're not supposed to tell us what you got!" Misato said.

"But they already knew I was bringing tea…" Rei replied.

"It's ok, blueberry, miso's just an angry Grinch." Mari said.

"I'm angry because you've destroyed the apartment!" Misato said. "I mean everything is so…"

"Christmassy?" Mari asked. "It's Christmas miso… it has to be decorated appropriately!"

"I get that, but why is it ice cold in here?!" Misato asked. "It doesn't have to be cold as hell too, does it?"

"I was wondering about that myself." Rei asked. "Why is it so cold in here, it is vastly different from the temperature outside."

"Well, considering we can't have a traditional white Christmas, I thought I'd make the apartment as realistic as possible!" Mari said indignantly. "What's the problem?"

"It's fucking cold!" Misato said.

"Misato, will you relax?" Asuka said. "So what it's cold? Maybe cover up your tits and you won't feel that frozen."

"What?!" Misato shouted.

"Yeah, we shouldn't see those hard nipples through your shirt miso…" Mari purred. "You must be cold… or horny…"

Asuka broke down laughing, and Mari smiled widely as Misato went slack jawed.

"MARI!" Misato shouted. "How is that appropriate?!"

"I never said it was miso…" Mari said. "But we can really see those nipples of yours…"

"Yeah we can, Misato." Asuka said. "Maybe put on an actual shirt?"

Misato stood up and angrily. "Everyone's a fucking critic…" Misato muttered angrily as went to her room and slammed the door.

"Guys… why?" Shinji asked.

"It was easy." Mari said.

"Yeah, she pokes fun at us all the time." Asuka said. "She can't handle a little bit?"

"But really, her nipples?" Shinji asked.

"Well, if they're on display, they're fair game." Mari said.

Asuka nodded her head. "Agreed."

Shinji shook his head. "You guys are unbelievable."

"It was quite believable, Shinji." Rei said. "And it was quite enjoyable to watch."

"Was it really?" Mari asked.

"Of course." Rei said. "I do like when you and Asuka double team someone, especially when you double team Shinji. It is quite enjoyable to watch."

Mari raised her eye brows and Shinji and Asuka just stared at her.

"What did you say, Rei?" Mari asked.

"I said I like when you double team Shinji." Rei said. "Did I use the phrase wrong?"

"Well…" Shinji said.

"Not at all, blueberry." Mari said cutting Shinji off. "Not at all."

"Well, Shinji and Asuka's expression do not indicate that is case." Rei said. "It seems to indicate that I said it wrong."

"Well…" Mari said. "It kinda does have a different meaning, but I can explain it later."

"What is it?" Rei asked.

"Not now, Rei." Mari said.

"But I am curious." Rei said. "I would really like to know."

"Do you really want to know, wundergirl?" Asuka asked.

"Asuka be nice…" Shinji said.

"Yes, I would like to know, Asuka." Rei said. "It must be interesting if Mari is not blurting it out inappropriately like she usually does."

"Well you implied that me and Mari both fuck Shinji at the same time." Asuka said.

"That is quite funny…" Rei looked at the three of them and then started giggling. "That is very funny…" Rei then bent over and started laughing.

"Oh my god… she's actually laughing." Asuka said.

"Wow, she has a cute laugh." Shinji said.

"Christmas miracles can happen…" Mari said. "All it takes is a sex joke to make her laugh…" Mari smiled. "Hey blueberry, are you ok?"

Rei stood up and tried to stop laughing. "I am quite fine… I have just never laughed before." Rei took a deep breath and kept smiling. "It was quite… fun…"

"So… it was your first time?" Mari asked.

"Yes." Rei said. "It hurt a little, but it was still enjoyable."

"Oh lord…" Shinji muttered.

Asuka shook her head. "She's impossible…"

"So, Rei, wanna know where you're sleeping?" Mari asked.

"Yes I would." Rei said.

"Good, you'll be in my bed, and I'll be here on the couch." Mari said.

"That seems acceptable." Rei said. "I am sure your bed is quite comfortable."

Mari smiled. "It is, blueberry." Mari said. "But did you bring anything else to wear?" Mari asked. "Or just the school uniform?"

"No… this is all I have." Rei replied.

"Well, glad I thought ahead then." Mari said grabbing a bag from behind the couch. "Here, some clothes for you to change into, so you don't just have to wear your uniform all the time."

"Thank you, Mari." Rei said. "That was very thoughtful of you…"

"No problem blueberry." Mari said. "Why don't you go change, it's kinda late and I think we're going to bed soon, right?"

"Yeah, we want to be up early, don't we?" Asuka said. "For the presents and stuff."

"Alright, then bedtime it is!" Mari said happily. "Anyone gets near the tree tonight, I'm tackling them to the ground."

"Again with the over seriousness…" Shinji said.

"What, I don't want your presents ruined!" Mari said.

"Alright, we'll stay away from the tree." Asuka said. "Now can we go to bed?"

"Yeah!" Mari said as she ran to the bathroom. "But I get to pee first before bed!"

"Damn it, you do that every night four eyes!" Asuka said as she ran after her. "I need to pee too you know!"

"Don't care, I'm peeing!" Mari said through the bathroom door.

"Do they do this every night?" Rei asked.

"Yeah…" Shinji said. "I guess Christmas won't change how they act…"

"Well, they are still quite funny." Rei said. "The can be quite endearing at times as well…"

"Yeah, Asuka can be so adorable at times." Shinji said. "It's nice to see her smile."

"Mari is the same way is she not?" Rei asked.

"Yeah, she those two are like two peas in a very loud pod…" Shinji said.

* * *

December 25, 2015 – Comfort 17 Apartments

Mari was half asleep when she heard a rustling next to her. She opened her eyes to see Shinji a few inches from her face and staring at her intently.

"Puppy?" Mari said sleepily.

"Merry Christmas, Mari." Shinji said.

"Why are you in my face?" Mari asked.

"Well, I decided to ask myself… what would Mari do?" Shinji said.

"Well, you know me pretty well, don't you puppy?" Mari smiled. "I would totally have done that to you."

"I know." Shinji said.

"So, where is everyone else?" Mari asked.

"Well, Asuka sounded asleep, and Misato would be out here if she was awake, and I'm not sure about Rei."

"Well, I'm up Shinji." Misato said.

"Oh, Merry Christmas Misato!" Shinji said happily.

Mari smiled. "Merry Christmas, miso!"

"Yeah, Merry Christmas…" Misato said.

"Hey, miso are you still mad about last night?" Mari asked.

"Yes." Misato said bluntly.

Mari stood up and went over to Misato and hugged her tightly. "I'm sorry miso… I was only kidding around."

"Yeah, I know, but I still didn't like it." Misato replied.

"Well, maybe tease us less, and we won't tease you as much." Mari said.

"Seriously?" Misato asked.

"Yeah, pretty simple isn't it?" Mari said.

"Yeah, almost stupidly simple…" Misato said.

"Your words, Misato." Asuka said as she came out in her pajamas. "At least you figured it out on your own though."

"Yeah, well, I'm smarter than you give me credit for, Asuka." Misato said. "And Mari, can you let go? I think you're crushing my ribs."

"Sorry miso…" Mari said. "So, where's the blueberry?"

"I am awake, Mari." Rei said sleepily in her pajama, which had a blueberry pattern.

"Mari, sis you really buy her that?" Asuka asked.

"Well, I thought she would look cute in them." Mari said.

"Well, they do match her hair." Shinji said.

"See, someone gets it." Mari said.

"Yeah, of course he gets it, he's your best friend." Misato said.

"Ok, can we stop talking and just open presents?" Asuka asked.

"Patience princess!" Mari said as she grabbed four gifts out from under the tree, and handed one to each of them, and then took an identical box for herself. "Open these first, then we can do the rest of the presents."

"Oh boy…" Asuka said.

"I'm worried." Shinji said.

"There's no need to be, puppy." Mari said. "Just open the presents."

The four cautiously opened the gifts Mari had handed them. Inside each box was a folded up sweater in a different color. Asuka got red, Misato purple, Rei got blue, and Shinji got white. They unfolded the sweaters and held them up to see something else. Each of them had felt lettering and a felt emblem on the front. Shinji's spelled out "puppy" and had a little Dalmatian next to letters, which ran from top to bottom. Asuka had the word "princess" and a simple crown, Misato had "miso" and what appeared to be a bowl of miso soup, and finally, to match her pajamas, Rei had the word "blueberry" with a bunch of blueberries on a twig.

"What are these exactly?" Asuka asked.

"Sweaters." Mari said, pulling out her own pink sweater that said "cutie pie" with a felt pie next to it. "You wear them, princess."

"I'm aware of that, but these are ridiculous…" Asuka said.

"They aren't ridiculous, princess, I made them myself!" Mari said.

"Wait, what?" Shinji asked.

"Yeah, I bought the felt and made the letters and the cute little pictures." Mari said. "I was hoping we'd all wear them while we unwrap the presents."

"You really made them yourself?" Misato asked.

"Yeah, I just bought the materials and the sweaters." Mari said. "I've had them ready for a few weeks, I had to hide them from you guys!"

"Well shit…" Asuka muttered as she put her head down.

"I think it is quite adorable, Mari." Rei said.

"It's cute, Mari." Shinji said.

"But… will you wear them?" Mari asked.

Asuka looked up. "Of course we will four eyes."

"Well, at least it's my color." Misato said.

"Yay!" Mari said. "You guys are the best!"

"We try…" Asuka said as she pulled her sweater on.

As everyone pulled on their sweaters, Mari was beaming and grabbed the presents from under the tree.

"Ok, who wants to hand out their presents first?" Mari asked.

"Mine first." Misato said. "They're in the plain silver paper."

The kids took their gifts and opened them, and each of them received the same thing, cash.

"Thanks, Misato!" Mari said. "I love money!"

"This is quite a practical gift, thank you." Rei said. "I will use this well."

"Yeah, I can get anything I want now!" Asuka said excitedly.

"Thanks, Misato." Shinji said. "This was nice."

"Hey, don't be so nice about it…" Misato said. "I've been busy the last few weeks, and I didn't have time to find gifts for you guys… I just wish I could have gotten you guys actual gifts instead of this…"

"We do, Misato." Shinji said. "At least you put something together for us."

"Yeah, don't get so bummed out, Misato." Asuka said. "Cash _is_ king after all."

"Awww, thanks you guys." Misato said.

"So, who's next?" Mari asked.

"Well, do mine." Asuka said. "They're in the snowflake paper."

Mari reached under the tree and handed out the gifts. Everyone opened up what Asuka had bought for them. Misato got a set of glowing shot glasses, Rei the "A Series of Unfortunate Events" box set, Mari got a pair of NERF Strongarm guns, and Shinji got a new set of earbuds and a large cookbook.

"Wow, Asuka, these guns are awesome!" Mari said excitedly. "Oh, I can't wait to shoot everyone!"

"Yeah, just avoid the eyes, Mari." Asuka said.

"Asuka, I have not read these books before." Rei said. "I believe I may enjoy them."

"Wow, Asuka… practical and useful." Misato said. "Can't wait to try them out."

"I knew you'd like them, Misato." Asuka said. "Sake for everyone!"

"Sounds like a plan!" Misato said happily.

"Hey, save the booze for New Year's." Mari said. "We can get wasted then."

"Not wasted, you're kids." Misato said. "One drink in celebration will be it for you."

"Eh, better than nothing." Asuka said.

"Why would you consume alcohol on New Year's" Rei asked.

"For fun, blueberry." Mari said as she noticed Shinji was still quiet. "Hey, puppy, why so quiet? Everything ok?"

"It's just these gifts are so nice." Shinji smiled. "Asuka, this is so kind of you…" Shinji said. "How did you know this is what I wanted? I mean this cookbook has recipes from all around the world, and these earbuds look really nice too…"

"I just… I just knew." Asuka said. "I'm a genius, remember?"

"Yeah, how can we forget the child prodigy in the room?" Mari said.

"Mari…" Shinji warned.

"Sorry, puppy." Mari said.

"Well, I'm glad you liked my presents, Shinji." Asuka said.

"Yeah, I hope you like what I got you." Shinji replied. "Hey, Mari, why not do my gifts next, they're in the purple and silver wrapping paper."

"Of course they are." Mari said. "This paper is totally something you'd use."

"Well, hand them out already." Asuka said.

Mari handed out Shinji's gifts. Misato unwrapped her gift to find a new dress like the one she wore on the first day Shinji and her met, along with the same sunglasses. Rei opened her own gift to find several books on astrophysics and astronomy, while Mari received a large amount of CDs and cassette tapes. Finally, Asuka opened her gift to see a stuffed monkey wearing a red bow on its head and holding two Game Boy cartridges, _The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening_ and _Donkey Kong_.

"Shinji, this is really awesome!" Mari said. "I have months' worth of music here!"

"Yeah, I thought you might like that, Mari." Shinji said happily.

"Awww… Shinji!" Misato said happily. "You remembered that my clothes got ruined when we met…"

"Yeah, I thought I should replace them because it was my fault we got caught up in all the Angel stuff." Shinji said. "Plus it was the least I could do to repay you for saving me."

"You didn't have to do that though." Misato said. "It wasn't your fault."

"Well, consider it a thank you then." Shinji replied.

Misato smiled at him as she held the dress up. "Then I happily accept your thanks, Shinji."

"Shinji, these books are quite wonderful." Rei said. "I quite like these subjects, I believe these books will teach me a lot about space, thank you."

"You're welcome, Rei." Shinji said. "I'm glad you like them." Shinji looked over at Asuka, who was in a deeper shock than Shinji was previously. "Asuka, is everything alright?"

"Yeah, Shinji…" Asuka muttered. "It's just… this is so thoughtful of you…"

"Well, I remembered you had a stuffed monkey, so I thought he might like a girlfriend." Shinji said sheepishly. "And the games I saw and thought you might like them."

"Shinji… it's just so… thoughtful…" Asuka said. "Thank you so much…"

"You're welcome, Asuka." Shinji said. "So, what are you going to name the monkey?"

"Karla." Asuka said. "My monkey's name is Karl, so this will be Karla."

"Awww, princess, that's cute." Mari said.

"Four eyes, I'm _adorable_." Asuka retorted.

Mari chuckled. "Whatever you say princess." Mari then reached for the remaining gifts, which were from her, but paused, as she saw a sad look on Rei's face. "Hey, blueberry, what's wrong?"

"It is just that…" Rei said quietly. "I feel… inadequate for not bringing any gifts for you all… and you have all gotten me such wonderful presents… it feels wrong…"

Mari scooted over to Rei and wrapped her arm around her. "Hey, listen blueberry, you don't have to be ashamed about anything."

"Yeah, Rei, Christmas isn't about presents." Asuka said.

"It's about being together and enjoying each other's company." Misato said.

"It's also about sharing happiness and joy." Shinji said.

"Basically, it's about family and those you care about, blueberry." Mari smiled. "And you're a part of our little dysfunctional family. So don't feel bad, Rei, we're just glad you could be here."

"It's nice that you were able to come over, Rei." Shinji said. "We don't always get to see you."

"Yeah, that self–righteous…" Asuka started.

"Asuka…" Shinji warned.

Asuka glared at Shinji. "Bitch." Asuka smirked. "Akagi always keeps you for tests and shit, and you never get to have any fun."

"Oh, I told Ritsuko to leave Rei alone until after New Year's, as we had a team building exercise to do." Misato said. "She may be a Grinch, but she relented when I threatened to fucking prank her in her sleep."

"What would you have done?" Rei asked.

"No idea, it was an empty threat." Misato replied. "Still, she thought I might do something drastic, and it worked, and here you are."

"Well, I am quite appreciative, Misato." Rei said.

"So, put that smile back on so we can finish opening the presents." Mari said.

"Alright." Rei replied.

Mari handed out the last four presents, wrapped in iridescent pink foil. Rei opened her present to find the "Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" box set, awhile Asuka was surprised with the Dragon Ball Z series and movies box set. Misato received some car wax and several shammies, and Shinji received two Pokémon plushies in the form of Arcanine, and Dragonite.

"Wow, Mari, thank you!" Misato said happily. "Now my car will always be shiny."

"Yeah, I thought your car should look its best all the time." Mari said.

"Mari, what are these books?" Rei asked.

"Oh… just one of the greatest fantasy series ever written." Mari replied. "Thought you might like the deep storyline in there beyond just what the main plot is about."

"I believe I will enjoy them…" Rei said as she opened the packaging to examine the books more thoroughly.

"Where did you find this?" Asuka asked. "This is all of Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z… and the movies!"

"Oh, and the TV specials too, princess." Mari said. "Some guy named Bardock, and Trunks I think? Weird names those people have though…"

"No shit…" Asuka said in disbelief. "Thanks Mari…"

"You're very welcome, princess." Mari replied. "So, puppy, still quiet I see?"

"Yeah…" Shinji said. "These are really cool… thanks Mari."

"I thought they could keep your Mewtwo company." Mari said. "But there's one more thing in that box, puppy."

"What?" Shinji asked.

"Look in the box, puppy." Mari said.

Shinji looked through the box and found what Mari was talking about, a new watch that had slid under some of the tissue paper inside the box.

"Mari, this is a really nice watch…" Shinji said. "Thank you…"

"You're welcome puppy." Mari said happily. "Now wasn't that fun everybody?"

"Yeah." Asuka said. "I had fun."

"So did I." Shinji said. "This was the best Christmas I can remember."

"I quite liked being here…" Rei said. "It was wonderful…"

"This was great, Mari, thank you so much." Misato said. "But now I have to go into work, I wish I could stay longer."

"But you'll miss dinner, Misato." Shinji said.

"I know, but I know you'll save me some." Misato replied as she went to her room. "Sorry guys…"

"It's ok, just tell any Angels we're off duty today and they'll have to come back later." Mari said.

"Yeah, that's a great tactic, maybe we'll try that on the Tenth Angel, if and when it shows up." Misato quipped as she went to her room.

"Well, blueberry, how was your first Christmas?" Mari asked.

"It was very enjoyable." Rei replied. "Thank you all for the wonderful gifts."

"You're welcome, Rei." Shinji said.

Asuka smirked. "No problem, wundergirl."

"So, Rei, you're coming over for New Year's Eve, right?" Mari asked.

"I would be delighted to come back for more celebrations." Rei said. "Will I stay over again like this time?"

"I don't see why not." Mari said. "It'll be fun though."

"Well, I'm going to get breakfast started." Shinji said as he stood up. "Then we can clean up the mess we made in here."

"I'll come and help you." Asuka said. "These two can clean up the mess."

"Sounds fair enough." Mari said. "What about the presents?"

"Stack them on the table, and we'll move them later." Shinji said. "We're eating in the kitchen, so they won't be in the way."

"Come on, Shinji." Asuka said. "I'm starving, so you need to cook fast."

Shinji smiled. "Alright, just help me get the ingredients, and the pans out, then I'll start." Shinji said as Asuka followed him to the kitchen while Mari and Rei began to clean up the mess of wrapping paper in the living room.

* * *

December 31, 2015 – Comfort 17 Apartments

It was New Year's Eve, and the four pilots and Misato were at the apartment once again, celebrating the end of the year.

"I'm so glad this year is almost over." Mari said.

"Yeah, it's been total shit." Asuka said. "Stupid fucking Angels have ruined everything."

"Yeah, you and Shinji almost died a couple times, Rei almost died at least twice, and I was able to skate death by not having my EVA in town, then all the blowing shit up and nuking the shit out of things that nukes don't work on… I mean shit, we're lucky to all be standing here in one piece. Imagine if more Angels had attacked this year and it all went tits up at the end? It'd be the end of the EVAs, and us!"

"In that perspective, things could have gone much worse than they did." Rei said.

"Well, it was still a shitty year anyway." Asuka said angrily. "So enough about the hypotheticals, Mari, we know it was shit year…"

"Hey, it hast been all bad." Shinji said.

"Of course you don't think so, baka!" Asuka said. "You have the highest sync score out of all of us!"

"Asuka, it's not that." Shinji said. "We all became friends this year, didn't we? You, me, Mari, Rei, and even Hikari, Toji, and Kensuke. We're all friends now. This time last year I was alone, and I'm glad I'm no longer alone, aren't you?"

"Well… yeah… I guess…" Asuka said. "I mean, it's nice to have friends again."

"I am very glad to have friends." Rei piped up. "Otherwise I would also be alone like Shinji mentioned, and it can be quite… lonely being alone."

"Truer words blueberry…" Mari said. "But enough sad talk, let's get ready to say goodbye to 2015 for fucking ever!"

"Here's to hoping next year will be better than this one!" Misato shouted.

"Yeah, no more Angels!" Asuka said. "We killed them all dead!"

"Yeah, peace and quiet sounds nice." Shinji said.

"I would like to not be in the hospital so much next year." Rei said.

"I second that!" Shinji said happily.

"Alright it's almost here!" Misato said looking at the clock. "10…"

"9…" Shinji said.

"8…" Mari said.

"7…" Asuka said.

"6…" Rei said.

"5…" Misato said jubilantly.

"4…" Rei said as she began to smile.

"3…" Mari said happily.

"2…" Asuka exclaimed.

"1…" Shinji said excitedly.

* * *

January 1, 2016 – Comfort 17 Apartments

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!" The group shouted.

Everyone hugged and cheered and then Misato fetched the glowing shot glasses Asuka had gotten her and poured everyone some sake.

"Alright, here's to a great 2016!" Misato shouted.

"Here, here!" Mari said as she took a glass.

Asuka grabbed a glass. "Yeah, let's hope 2016 is a kickass year!"

"I agree." Rei replied as she took a glass.

"Here's to a great year!" Shinji said as the all clinked glasses and drank to 2016.

* * *

A/N: I do not own Evangelion or any of the characters, GAINAX and the other distributors of NGE related material do. I am simply using them as a backdrop for my fanfic.

So to everyone out there reading, Merry Christmas (2016) everyone!

Timelines are very important to me! So, this one shot takes place roughly between Chapter 11 and Chapter 12 of Episode IV, based on the dates for it.

This one shot was originally entitled "First Christmas" but I decided that the title "A Very Mari Christmas" would be far more appropriate considering Mari bought and set everything up, like the awesome person she is. Her motives for this will be made clear at a later time of course.

Also, the addition of a New Year's segment was to round out the year and show at the beginning of 2016, leading up to Third Impact, everyone was happy and optimistic. However, this is Neon Genesis Evangelion after all, so not everything is going to turn out all fine and dandy, but they needed this moment to be happy in the long run… plus, it's Christmas after all!

As I said before, and will always say at the end of anything, please leave comments, as I would like to try to improve the story going forward any way I can. And, hell, constructive criticism is a good thing.

* * *

つづく


	2. One Shot 2 – Yui–tide Joy

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Legacy  
One Shot – Yui–tide Joy

* * *

December 20, 1996 – Kyoto University

Mari was sitting alone in her dorm room. She looked outside to see snow gently falling outside her window. She was tired from all the lab work she had done that day. It was the last day before break however, and Mari was planning on staying on campus for the winter break. Everyone would be leaving campus in the morning to go home, something that Mari did not have the luxury of doing, as she no longer had any family after the recent death of her aunt and the deaths of her parents so many years ago.

'I hate Christmas…' Mari thought. 'It just reminds me I'm all alone in this world…'

Mari heard a knock on her door. "Who is it?" Mari said boredly.

"It's Yui, silly." Yui said through the door. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah, come on, I want to see you before I leave!" Kyoko said.

"Of course!" Mari said as she bounded happily off the bed to let her best friend in. As Mari swung the door open she put a big smile on her face. "Hiya, Yui! Hiya, Kyoko!"

"Hey. I was just seeing what your plans were for Christmas." Yui asked. "Hey, why aren't you packed?" Yui asked.

"Yeah, did you forget break was coming up?" Kyoko asked.

"Oh, uh… I'm staying here for break." Mari said.

"Why?" Yui asked. "Don't you want to enjoy Christmas with your family?"

"I would but…" Mari said sheepishly. "I can't."

"Why not?" Kyoko asked.

"Well, all my family is dead…" Mari said. "My parents died a long time ago, and my aunt died a few years ago, so I've been on my own for a while."

"Oh… scheisse…" Kyoko said quietly.

"Well, that won't do." Yui said.

"What?" Mari asked.

"I live in Kyoto, so you're coming home with me for the holidays." Yui said.

"But, I don't want to impose." Mari said.

"Nonsense, my family love having guests." Yui said.

"But…" Mari stammered.

"Mien Gott, Mari." Kyoko said. "You shouldn't be alone on Christmas, you deserve to be with family. I'd have invited you, but the U.S. is a long flight from here."

"Why the U.S.?" Mari asked.

"Well, my parents still work for the U.N. so I'm going to New York to see them, seeing as they have some down time." Kyoko explained.

"Oh, well I hope you have fun." Mari said.

"And I'm sure you'll have fun with her family." Kyoko said.

"I never said…" Mari started.

"So, that leaves you coming home with me." Yui said. "No if's, and's or but's about it."

"I…" Mari started.

"Please, Mari…" Yui said. "If I know you're here all alone, I'm just going to be worried about you. I'd rather you just come home with me and have fun. Shinji will be there, he's always fun to be around."

"Well… ok…" Mari said.

"Good!" Yui said brightly. "Now pack some stuff, we'll be there for a few weeks."

Mari stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Yui. "Thank you, Yui."

"You're welcome, Mari." Yui replied as she reciprocated the hug. "Now get packed, we're leaving bright and early in the morning to beat the rush of people leaving campus to go home, ok?"

"Alright, I'll get started." Mari said.

"Well, I should help you seeing as its last minute." Yui said. "Come on, get your bags, and I'll fold your clothes into them, ok?"

"Alright…" Mari said.

"Ok, so I'm gonna jet, I have to get to the airport, so I'll see you guys after the break." Kyoko said. "Have fun you two."

Yui smiled. "We will, don't worry. Have a safe flight."

"Bye, Kyoko." Mari said.

* * *

December 21, 1996 – Kyoto, Japan

Mari and Yui were walking down the road. After leaving campus, the pair took a bus to the train station, and took a short ride to the opposite side of town. Mari followed Yui closely as she guided them to their destination.

As they approached a nice looking neighborhood, Yui started to smile.

"Are we almost there?" Mari asked.

"Yeah, we're here." Yui said, pointing to the house in front of them. "Told you it wouldn't take long."

Mari sighed. "I believe we have different definitions of the term."

"Well, everything is subjective, even time!" Yui said brightly.

"Yui, I'm too tired from all this walking for a discussion on the artificial construct of time…" Mari said. "Also, could use some water."

"It wasn't that long of a walk, Mari…" Yui said. "But we'll head inside. I'm sure I can find something for you to drink."

"Thank you." Mari said as they approached the house.

Yui unlocked the door, and went inside and kicked off her shoes gently. "Tadaima!" Yui said loudly to no response. "Hmmm… guess no one's home."

"Where should I put my stuff?" Mari asked.

"Well… just leave it here." Yui said. "We'll move it later."

"Alright." Mari said. "So, who else lives here besides your parents?"

"Well, my mother's mother, and my brother when he's in town." Yui explained. "We do have a spare room, so you can probably stay in there."

"Wont your parents be mad at you bringing me home?" Mari asked.

"No, they're not like that, they love having company." Yui said. "Besides, they always told me to bring friends over when I was younger, so I think they'll be glad I have a few now."

"Wait, you didn't have friends when you were younger?" Mari asked.

"I kinda did." Yui said. "But they were all so much less gifted then I was, so when we would try to do stuff, I'd be kinda bored with what they wanted to do and vice versa. So, I never really brought them home."

"Oh… that sucks." Mari said. "I know the feeling…"

"Enough sad talk though." Yui said happily. "Let's go get you some water."

"Sure." Mari said, following Yui to the kitchen. When they got there, Yui searched around for a bottle of water and handed it to Mari.

"Why a bottle?" Mari asked.

"That's just how my parent are, something about lead poisoning from China…" Yui said. "I just learned not to ask anymore and roll with it."

"I think I can handle that." Mari said.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" A voice said from the back doorway. "Two adorable girls, all alone in a large house."

"Sounds like the opening to a horror flick." Mari quipped.

Shinji stepped into the kitchen and tossed his keys on the counter. "Ah… I knew I liked you for some reason."

"Shinji!" Yui exclaimed happily as she bounded over to her brother and gave him a bone crushing hug. "How are you?"

"Having trouble breathing..." Shinji said weakly.

"Oh, sorry bro." Yui said. "So, now how are you?"

"Oh I'm good, just the usual monotony of military life." Shinji said. "What about you, sis? Anything new going on?"

"Well, no not really, just school stuff." Yui said.

"So why is the cutie pie here?" Shinji asked.

"Who's a cutie pie?" Mari asked.

"You, cutie pie." Shinji said. "I always give cute nicknames to people. It's a thing I do."

"Sounds like fun." Mari said. "What kind of cutie pie am I though… flavor wise?"

"Well, let's see… blueberry." Shinji said.

"Can I be like apple instead?" Mari asked.

"Nope." Shinji replied. "I choose the nickname, you just deal with it."

"Awww…" Mari said.

"Oh, Shinji, just stop…" Yui said.

"Nope." Shinji replied.

"Well, do you have a nickname?" Mari asked.

"I have a callsign." Shinji said.

"Right, you're a pilot." Mari said. "So, what's your callsign?"

"It's Shinigami." Shinji explained. "I'm pretty much the deadliest thing to get into the cockpit next to a kamikaze pilot."

"Sweet…" Mari said. "Can I call you that?"

Shinji smirked. "I don't see why not."

"Yay!" Mari said. "Thanks, Shinji."

"You're welcome, cutie pie." Shinji said as he turned to Yui. "So, why is she with you, sis? Did something happen?"

"Well… yeah…" Yui replied.. "Mari was going to end up spending Christmas all alone at school, so I invited her to stay with us instead."

"Why wasn't she going home?" Shinji asked.

"I don't have any family left…" Mari said sullenly. "They're all dead. My parents died in a car crash, and my aunt died of cancer, and there isn't anyone else left…"

"Oh…" Shinji said as he wrapped his arms comfortingly around Mari. "Don't worry about it, kid. You can stay here… no one should be alone on Christmas…"

Mari hugged him back and buried her face into his chest. "Thank you…"

"No need to thank me." Shinji said. "Just thank Yui for being that kind and wonderful person she always is."

Mari smiled. "I will…"

"So, Shinji, which room are you sleeping in?" Yui asked as they hugged..

"My old one." Shinji replied. "Why?"

"Well, I need to find a place for Mari to sleep." Yui replied.

"Oh… that could be a problem." Shinji said.

Mari let go of Shinji and looked up at him. "I don't want to be a problem…"

"You're not, it's just that mom and dad converted the guest bedroom…." Shinji said. "Into a… some bullshit thing or something."

"Damn it all to hell!" Yui said. "Why would they do that?"

"I don't know, they like using all the available space in the house." Shinji said. "As big as it is, they don't like having useless space."

"Well, where could she sleep?" Yui asked.

"I don't really care." Mari said. "I told you, I don't want to be an inconvenience."

"You're not, Mari." Yui replied. "So, Shinji, any suggestions in the brain of yours?"

"Well…" Shinji said. "The couch is always an option."

"The hell with the couch!" Yui protested loudly. "She's not sleeping on the couch, Shinji! She can sleep in my bed, with me!"

"Well, then, problem solved." Shinji said. "It'll be like a sleepover for you, sis."

"Yeah, that sounds nice." Yui said.

"Yeah it does…" Mari said. "I've never had a sleepover before."

"Well, you have now." Shinji said. "Now why don't I bring your stuff up, and Yui can show you around the house. Then we can tell mom and dad we have company."

"Sure, but one question." Mari asked.

"Go for it cutie pie." Shinji said.

"Do you guys actually celebrate Western Christmas?" Mari asked.

"No, they don't." Shinji said. "Grammy goes out to a friend's house, and our parents celebrate the Japanese way, they go on a date."

"So, what about you and Yui?" Mari asked.

"Oh, well, we kinda do. We have a small Christmas tree we'll put out, and we exchange gifts." Shinji said. "Did you celebrate Christmas like a westerner?"

"Yeah, we did." Mari said. "It was always nice to be with family like that…"

"Well, don't worry, Mari." Yui said. "You won't be alone anymore. You're always welcome here for Christmas."

Mari turned and hugged Yui. "Thanks Yui…"

* * *

December 24, 1996 – Ikari Residence, Kyoto, Japan

The last few days had been wonderful. Yui's parents had been quite accepting of Yui's friend staying for Christmas, and even offered to have her stay with them for every school break, which shocked Mari. Yui's grandmother doted on Mari like she was her granddaughter, making sure she was comfortable, and making sure Mari had third helpings of whatever they were eating. Shinji enjoyed being in Mari's company immensely, as she and him would joke back and forth about a multitude of things. Yui was also especially happy about having a friend with her for the holidays. She didn't mind sharing her bed either, and Mari kept her distance, and they slept back to back.

So, each morning, Mari would wake up with a lite shake from Yui to get up, but this morning, that did not come. Mari woke up to find Yui's room empty. Mari sat up and looked around.

"Weird… where did she go?" Mari asked aloud.

Mari sat there in bed and then got to thinking. 'Wow, its weird… I always wake up alone, but not I'm sad about Yui not being in here with me… I don't get it, why am I sad she's not here? I don't get why I'm so disappointed I don't get to see her face, or smell that wonderful strawberry and blueberry scent she has to in her hair…'

Mari shook her head and got out of bed. 'Can't keep thinking like that… it almost sounds like I have a crush on her…'

Mari put on some more appropriate clothes and went downstairs to an equally empty house. She wandered to the kitchen to see Shinji making toast.

"Morning cutie pie!" Shinji said. "How'd you sleep?"

"Well enough." Mari replied.

"Good, want some toast?" Shinji asked.

Mari smiled widely. "Yes please!"

As Shinji made toast, Mari looked around. "So, where is everybody?"

"Oh, right, you don't know." Shinji said. "Well, mom and dad left for their couple's night out, they won't be back for a few days… bleh…" Shinji shuttered at the thought of what his parents were doing. "And grammy went off to her friend's house in Hyogo…"

"But where's Yui?" Mari asked.

"Oh, well… I think she's out buying you a gift." Shinji said.

"Really?" Mari asked. "Oh no…"

"What's wrong?" Shinji asked.

"I didn't get her anything…" Mari said. "I feel awful now…"

"Don't worry about it, Mari. You don't have anything to feel bad about." Shinji said as he walked over to her and put his arm across her shoulders. "Christmas isn't about the presents, it's about being with your family, or friends and enjoying each other's company, plain and simple. Yui won't mind, she's just being her usual kind, thoughtful, and considerate self."

"Yeah, but…" Mari started.

"No arguments, Mari." Shinji said. "You don't need to worry so much. You'll like my gift too."

"What?" Mari asked. "You got me something too?"

"Well, yes and no…" Shinji said. "I don't want to spoil the surprise, so I'm not going to tell you…" Shinji looked and saw the sad look on Mari's face. "Alright, there's no need to cry. Just watch the toast and I'll be back in a minute."

Shinji left the kitchen and came back with a bright pink package in his hand. "Here you go, Mari, Merry Christmas."

"But it's early!" Mari said.

"Don't worry about it." Shinji said. "Just open it."

Mari took the gift and ripped off the paper, revealing a worn copy of Sun Tzu's The Art of War. Mari opened the inside of the cover to reveal a bit of writing that read " _Property of Shinigami_ " and Mari flipped though the book to see other notes and doodles drawn in the book as well. Mari looked up at Shinji. "Really, this is so nice! Thank you so much!"

"Yep, I remembered when you mentioned you always wanted to read it cause war and battle fascinates you, I dug out my old copy and thought you might like it." Shinji said. "It has all my handwritten notes in the margins too. So you can read all the bullshit I wrote in there about how class is stupid, and some other useful things as well."

"But I should still get you something…" Mari said as she thought heavily on the matter.

"I told you not to worry, you don't have to get me anything." Shinji said.

"But I want to…" Mari said. "Oh, I know! Will you take a non–physical gift?"

"A what?" Shinji asked.

Mari shook her head. "Some not tangible, silly…"

"Yeah, if it'll make you feel better…" Shinji said.

"Then my gift to you is a kiss at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve slash Day." Mari said. "As long as you're ok with that."

"It's been my experience to never refuse a kiss from a pretty girl." Shinji said. "I would also regret missing the opportunity to kiss a pretty girl."

"Wait, you really think I'm pretty?" Mari asked.

"Yeah, don't you?" Shinji asked.

"No, not really." Mari said. "No one's ever shown that kind of interest in me before…"

"Well, they should." Shinji said. "Nice girls shouldn't be ignored, and for those shallow guys, you have plenty of looks too. Don't sell yourself short, Mari, you're very beautiful."

Mari blushed. "Thanks, Shinji…" Mari looked up at him again. "So you don't think it's weird of us to kiss, even with the age difference?"

"We're only doing a kiss at New Year's…" Shinji shook his head. "We're not dating or anything, and you could do far better than me."

"Yeah, you could, you're as nice as Yui is." Mari said.

"No, not quite…" Shinji smiled. "She has me beat in everything, smarts, kindness, looks… she's perfect, and I'm far from it."

"No, you're nice too…" Mari said. "And you have a brilliant mind too. The way you process things for battle is amazing, you're as smart as Yui, but in different way… don't sell yourself short, Shinji." Mari smiled. "And Yui clearly picked up her kind streak from you, you've been nothing but kind to me since I got here."

"Well, it's because you're so adorable." Shinji said. "It's nice to see Yui have a friend that's on her level. She deserves that."

"What do you mean?" Mari asked.

"Well, Yui was always a happy and friendly person." Shinji said. "She had a lot of friends growing up too. But her friends were always so far behind her intellectually, Yui struggled to fit in with them."

"Yeah she mentioned something about this to me the other day…" Mari said.

"Well, the thing is, Yui tried so hard to fit in, and her friends accepted her, but Yui had to dumb herself down to do it." Shinji explained. "And that was something I didn't like to see happen. She shouldn't have had to be dumb to get her friends to enjoy her company. But she did, because Yui doesn't like being alone."

"No one does…" Mari said sullenly.

"That's why I'm really glad she met you and blondie." Shinji said happily. "You're both on her level, so she can truly be herself around you instead of hiding her massive intelligence."

"Yui left that part out." Mari said.

"She didn't realize she was doing it." Shinji replied. "She was just happy to be friends with people, and thankfully she grew out of it."

"Yeah… I can understand not fitting in." Mari said. "I was teased for being so smart, and I couldn't make any friends. Yui and Koko are the first two people who actually like me and like to spend time with me. It's really nice to be a part of a group of friends…"

"Well, you can add me to that list too, cutie pie." Shinji said. "You may be smarter than me, but I don't care, and I'd like to consider you a friend."

"I'd like that a lot." Mari said. "But I still need to get Yui something for Christmas."

"Mari, she doesn't want a present." Shinji said. "She's getting you one because she thinks you deserve a nice present."

"Yeah, but she's been nothing but kind and wonderful to me since we met." Mari said. "She deserves something, doesn't she?"

"Well, why not give her something intangible?" Shinji asked. "I bet she'd love that."

"Well, then I guess I have some thinking to do…" Mari said. 'A lot of thinking…' Mari thought. 'A lot of thinking….'

–––

It was late out when Yui got back, and Mari was already upstairs. Yui went up to see Mari sleeping comfortably in bed. Yui placed Mari's gift on her nightstand and changed. When Yui got into bed she tried her best to not wake Mari up, but didn't succeed.

"Hmmm…" Mari mumbled.

"Oh… I'm sorry, Mari." Yui whispered. "I dint mean to wake you up."

"I don't mind, Yui." Mari said. "But, I'm a little cold, so do you mind if we sleep closer together?"

"No, we can cuddle if you want to, Mari." Yui said. "It sounds kinda nice." Yui crawled into bed and faced Mari. "See, we can sleep like this… wow you _are_ cold."

"Yeah, but I'll be fine." Mari said. "You'll warm me up soon enough."

Yui smiled. "Yeah, I know… goodnight, Mari."

"Night, Yui…" Mari said as she yawned.

As Yui drifted off to sleep, Mari kept looking at her face and thinking. 'You know, while you gone, I came to a few conclusions… the reason I don't understand why I'm having these unrecognizable feelings is because I've never had them before… it took me a while to realize what they truly were.' Mari thought. 'I mean, it's not like it's a bad thing to like someone of the same gender, and I don't like you because you're a girl… I like you because you're something people have never been to me before I met you, kind, loving, just plain wonderful…' Mari smiled 'I think I've fallen in love with you, Yui Ikari…'

* * *

December 25, 1996 – Ikari Residence, Kyoto, Japan

Yui woke up to a warm sensation in her body. She noticed that her and Mari were still cuddling, and that Mari had buried her head into the crook of Yui's arm. Yui smiled and gently rubbed Mari's back to wake her up.

"Five more minutes…" Mari muttered.

"Not if you want your present." Yui joked.

"But… five more minutes…" Mari protested.

Yui shook her head. "Mari… please get up? Don't make me have to tickle you."

"No… don't… I don't want to pee myself…" Mari muttered as she separated herself from Yui. "I was comfy…"

Yui smiled. "I could tell." Yui kissed Mari gently on the cheek. "Merry Christmas, Mari."

"Merry Christmas, Yui." Mari said.

"SO, do you want your present?" Yui asked.

"Yes, but first, I want to tell you yours." Mari said.

"You didn't have to buy me anything, Mari…" Yui said.

"Well, I didn't technically buy it yet, but I do promise you this, you'll like it." Mari said.

"So, what is it?" Yui asked.

"Well, it's an offer to take you out to shop and then go to dinner afterwards, anywhere you want. I'll pay for everything."

"You don't have to do that, Mari." Yui said. "You really don't."

"Yes I do!" Mari said. "You've been so kind to me since we met, and you even bought me a present! I's the least I can do!"

"Well, seeing as you're quite sure…" Yui said.

"I am!" Mari said emphatically.

"Then I accept your gracious gift, and give you this in return." Yui said, handing over the pink package.

Mari took the package and unwrapped it. Inside was the whole set of Sailor Moon manga. "Wow, I've been meaning to buy this, but I couldn't find it in Kyoto at all…" Mari said. "Or Okinawa either… they've been sold out forever. All 17 volumes too!"

"Well, I had to go to Tokyo and buy it. I checked so many stores till I found what I was looking for." Yui said. "I finally found one store, and they had a few copies left, and they said if I bought them all, I could preorder the final volume… which will be out around your birthday! So you'll only have to wait a few months for that!"

"Yui… you didn't have to go through all that trouble…" Mari said.

"Yes I did!" Yui said happily. "I wanted you to have the best Christmas ever!"

"Yui…" Mari muttered. "Thank you…"

"You're welcome." Yui said. "So, did Shinji give you anything?"

"Yeah, he gave me "The Art of War" his old copy… it was a very thought gift." Mari said.

"Really?" Yui asked.

"Yeah, I've always wanted one, but never got around to buying it, so it was really nice of him to give me his!" Mari said happily.

"Well, I'm glad you liked your presents." Yui said. "So, are you ready to go downstairs?"

"Not yet." Mari replied. "Can we just lay here for a little while? I really like spending time with you, Yui."

"I like being with you too, Mari." Yui said. "It's nice to have a friend who'll cuddle with you the way you did. You're so friendly, Mari, and I hope our friendship makes you truly happy. I don't like seeing when you frown."

"Yui, our friendship means the world to me… it is the best thing I've ever received." Mari said as she kissed Yui gently on the cheek. "I wouldn't trade it for anything."

"Awww… Mari…" Yui said as she blushed. "You're so sweet."

* * *

December 31, 1996 – Ikari Residence, Kyoto, Japan

"So, are our ready for the new year yet?" Yui asked.

"Yeah, this year was great with meeting you and Kyoko, but next year will be even better!" Mari said excitedly.

"Yeah, I can't wait to go back to base, but it was really fun spending some time at home with my little sister and one of her best friends." Shinji said happily.

"Thanks Shinji!" Mari said happily.

"Yeah, Shinji, you're so sweet." Yui said. "When I have time, we have to find you a girlfriend. Someone as nice as you shouldn't be single."

"Yui, being single is better for me right now." Shinji replied. "I can't focus on a girlfriend, it would be unfair to her if my attention was split between work and her… I can't do that to someone, I want to be fully devoted them…"

"Wow… my big brother is a sappy romantic!" Yui said excitedly.

"Yea, it's cute!" Mari said.

"Well, keep it a secret, will you?" Shinji asked.

"Sure thing, bro." Yui said.

"I won't tell… oh, shit, it's almost time!" Mari said loudly. "5…"

"4…" Yui said as she smiled broadly.

"3…" Shinji said happily.

"2…" Mari said in anticipation.

"1…" Yui said excitedly.

* * *

January 1, 1997 – Ikari Residence, Kyoto, Japan

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!" The group shouted.

Mari turned to Shinji and she kissed him on the lips for a moment. "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year…" Mari said happily.

"Yeah, Happy New Year cutie pie." Shinji said. "You know you have soft lips."

"Really?" Mari asked. "I guess all that Chap Stick works then…"

"Oh, being cute, huh?" Shinji said.

"More like kawaii…" Mari joked.

"What, I don't get a kiss?" Yui asked.

"Jeez, sis, jealous much?" Shinji quipped.

"No, I'm just feeling left out of the happiness." Yui said.

"Well, seeing as you asked so nicely." Mari said as she walked over and kissed Yui on the lips too, just a bit longer than she kissed Shinji, and Mari also felt something inside her she didn't feel when she kissed Shinji, a tingling warmth she hadn't felt ever before.

'So, this is love…' Mari thought as looked at Yui.

* * *

January 6, 1997 – Kyoto University

Yui and Mari were walking into their dorm, and ran into Kyoko in the elevator.

"Well, look at you two!" Kyoko said. "You look happy, how was your break?"

"Hiya, Kyoko!" Yui said brightly. "Ours was fun! We had didn't go anywhere, and we just watched TV and hung out with my brother, Shinji."

"Yeah, and Yui and Shinji got me presents too!" Mari said excitedly.

"Wow, you seem a lot happier than you were before your little vacation." Kyoko joked. "So, what did you give to them?"

"Well, Shinji got a kiss for New Year's, and I'm going to take Yui anywhere she wants to go shopping and then go out to eat afterwards."

"Well, that sounds nice." Kyoko said.

"It was…" Yui said.

"Yeah, it was…" Mari mumbled.

"So, how was your trip?" Yui asked.

Kyoko smiled. "Well, my parents were happy to see me. They were proud of me for getting into here, and they gave me a load of cash to spend on things, that and I was in New York City, so it was pretty awesome to watch the ball drop in Time's Square."

"Was it really that fun?" Mari asked.

"Yeah, there were like a million people there." Kyoko explained. "We were packed in like sardines, and then the ball dropped and everyone was just so happy, it was an amazing night! I also got a tour of the U.N. when it was empty, which was pretty interesting. Well, mostly empty, as the Ambassador from Germany was there, and that dude's was a little scary… don't know why, he just unnerved me a bit, but anyway, I'm glad you guys had fun this last week and a half."

"Of course we did." Yui said happily. "Maybe next year all three of us could all celebrate together."

"Yeah, that sounds like fun." Kyoko said.

"Well, who knows what could happen in a year or two." Mari said. "We as well enjoy the time we have now."

"Yeah we should do that." Kyoko said.

"So, then next year, we spend Christmas together!" Yui exclaimed.

"Agreed." Kyoko replied.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world…" Mari said happily.

* * *

January 1, 2016 – Comfort 17 Apartments

"Yeah, I wouldn't have missed it for the world." Mari said quietly.

Mari was lying awake on the couch thinking back on the Christmas she had with Yui, and the fun she had had. "I just can't believe it's been 19 years since then…" Mari mumbled. "19 years since I met you and fell in love with you, and then you got a boyfriend and I hated you… man I was a fucked up kid…"

Mar looked over at the Christmas tree. "Well, this year was fun at least, but you and Kyoko should have been doing this for your kids, not me…"

Mari sat up and looked around. "Well, I should go check on him…" Mari said.

Mari snuck off the couch to Shinji's room to see his sleeping form. She went inside and looked at his peaceful face.

"You have the same face as your uncle… it's kinda funny." Mari said. "Mostly because you have his name, and same kindness present in your entire family…"

Mari leaned down and kissed his forehead gently. "I just wanted to tell you that I did all this for you, and your mom, Shinji." Mari smiled. "I wanted to repay her kindness when she took me home for Christmas… something you probably don't remember from before your mom died… I wanted you to have the same amount of fun I did… and I'm happy I could do something for you… something that made you happy. I'll keep making sure you're happy, and safe too, until the day I die, as that's what I promised your mother, and that's my solemn vow… and I'll do my best for Asuka, but she's far more tenacious than you are, Shinji. But she has a kind heart, and I hope you two remember your pasts too, you have something there and you don't even realize it yet."

Mari walked towards the door. "I wish I could tell you and Asuka all about your mothers and everything else I know, but I can't yet. I really wish I could, because somehow, knowing about your mothers may help you two out a lot… and everything else will just make things clearer… but I'm sure Yui will contact you in the EVA when you're ready…" Mari smiled. "And when that time comes, I can finally tell you the truth…"

* * *

A/N: I do not own Evangelion or any of the characters, GAINAX and the other distributors of NGE related material do. I am simply using them as a backdrop for my fanfic.

So to everyone out there reading, Happy New Year (2017) everyone!

Timelines are very important to me! So this One Shot takes place during Episode I, inside the events of Chapter 8, between the three girl's first meeting, and the night Mari loses her shit and cries in front of Yui and Kyoko about falling behind in her research. This one shot's final scene also takes place after the end of the previous one shot in this story "A Very Mari Christmas." Literally only a few hours afterwards.

So, this chapter sees the return of the older Shinji, and also the trapped Yui and Kyoko, they may be gone in the current story, but they are certainly not forgotten.

These events were also mentioned by Mari to Lilith during her time in the Core in Chapter 12 of Episode II. So, I figured they deserved to be expanded upon, as this is the cornerstone of why Mari fell in love with Yui. Mari's line of "So, this is love…" is an answer to the Episode I Chapter 9 title "What is Love?" where Mari admits over a year and half after realizing she has fallen in love with Yui. And yes, the chapter is a flashback in Mari's dream that she wakes up from to bring us back to the present.

Shinji (Yui's brother) is the one who gave Mari the idea of nicknaming everyone, and also gave her the nickname of "Cutie pie" which she put on her custom sweater. She also gets Rei's nickname not only from the color of her hair, but also "that wonderful strawberry and blueberry scent" Yui's hair had, because Rei reminds Mari of Yui.

Finally, the final segment of this story explains why Mari went and turned the Christmas dial to "11" was to repay Yui for that Christmas they spent together, which is one reason, and other is the that she does want everyone to be happy, as she does have an idea of what's going to happen next, as she has the files Fuyutsuki gave her.

As I said before, and will always say at the end of anything, please leave comments, as I would like to try to improve the story going forward any way I can. And, hell, constructive criticism is a good thing.

* * *

つづく


	3. One Shot 3 – Christmas Rei–Dux

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Legacy  
One Shot – Christmas Rei–Dux

* * *

For jcmoorehead

* * *

January 15, 2017 – Comfort 17 Apartments

It was early in the morning and Shinji was in a deep sleep from being exhausted. Shinji was also sleeping alone in his room, as Asuka had been upset with him the previous day stemming from an argument that Shinji barely understood and told him to leave her alone for the evening. Because of this, he had trouble falling asleep, but when he did, he was out cold. So when he felt someone poking his face repeatedly, he opened his eyes groggily and saw a mane of red hair in the dim light of his room.

"Asuka…?" Shinji mumbled.

"Baka… wake up." Asuka said impatiently as she continued to poke his face. "I want to talk. Don't make me wait forever, its important."

"Can you stop?" Shinji said without thinking in his groggy state.

"Seriously?" Asuka asked. "You want me to leave you here again?"

"Asuka, wait." Shinji said as he slowly sat up. He saw Asuka was wearing a red robe tied tightly around herself. "Don't go."

"I'm not going anywhere, baka." Asuka said as she sat down next to him. "All you have to do is listen."

Shinji opened his eyes all the way and looked at her. She looked very upset, but not at him. "Asuka… I didn't mean to upset you yesterday."

"You didn't do anything, Shinji." Asuka said. "I got mad for no reason. I shouldn't have yelled at you… and it really sucked not sleeping next to you."

"I know, I had so much trouble falling asleep." Shinji said.

"It's funny how I'm used to you sleeping next me after a couple weeks." Asuka joked. "I missed waking up with your arms around me, copping a feel."

"Asuka, I don't… I don't do that on purpose…" Shinji stammered.

"I know." Asuka said. "And even if you did, I don't really care."

"Really?" Shinji asked.

"Well, yeah." Asuka said. "Your hands are so warm… and you're so gentle…"

Shinji blushed. "But… uh… why were you mad?" Shinji asked nervously. "I mean, what made you so upset."

"I'm just frustrated." Asuka said.

"About what?" Shinji asked.

"How we missed our first Christmas together." Asuka said. "And then I tried to make it all better by having sex… and then… I'm just being dumb."

"No you're not." Shinji replied. "I wish we hadn't missed our first Christmas as a couple, but it happened. We can't go back and fix it."

"I know… but maybe I can make it up to you." Asuka said.

"How?" Shinji asked.

Asuka stood up and untied the robe, letting it drop to the floor. "Maybe we can have a do–over with our first time…"

"I… uh…" Shinji stammered.

"Shinji, you don't have to say yes." Asuka said.

"Asuka, it's not that…" Shinji said quietly. "I just… you keep surprising me like this… I'm never sure what to do, it's not like I'm thinking my best… why wouldn't I want to… do… I mean we haven't since… that first… I mean… the last…"

Asuka smiled. "Well, I'm flattered that this kind of surprise makes you speechless." Asuka said coyly. "But maybe this time… I could do all the work… not that last time was bad… I just… well, you know…"

"Yeah… I… but…" Shinji mumbled. "I don't have a condom."

"I came prepared." Asuka said as she kneeled at the end of his bed. "I heard you could put these on with your mouth… I wanna see if that works."

"Huh?" Shinji asked nervously. "Won't your teeth…?"

"Only if I bite down." Asuka joked as she pulled a condom from her discarded robe and opened it. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you… too much."

–––

Rei was just waking up. She felt the warmth of the sun coming thought the veranda's windows, and rolled over to see the fairly clean living room around her. This had been home for the past few weeks. Even though the couch was a bit lumpy, it was well beyond the comfort her own bed had provided her, and even though she didn't have a room quite to herself, she was thankful all the same. She sat up and waited patiently on the couch for everyone else to wake up, which she didn't mind, she did enjoy the quiet, but she enjoyed being around her new family even more. So, she had an idea and just needed to wait for everyone to wake up.

Oddly enough, she heard Mari get up first and wander out to the bathroom, stumbling over her own feet as she went. Then, a few minutes later she saw Shinji and Asuka come out of Shinji's room, holding hands. They walked over to the couch and sat down next to Rei, and she noticed a sweet, sweaty smell wafting from them.

"Morning, Rei." Shinji said.

"Guten tag." Asuka said happily.

"Good morning, onii–chan. Good morning, Asuka." Rei replied. "You seem happy this morning."

"Just woke up in a good mood is all." Asuka said. "How are you?"

"I'm doing ok." Rei said as Mari stumbled in and collapsed into a chair and appeared to doze back off. "The couch is really quite nice."

"Is it?" Shinji asked. "It's not that comfortable."

"It's more than what I'm used to." Rei said. "I am not used to such comfort."

"That's just so… sad." Asuka said. "Do you want my bed, Rei? I mean, I'm not planning on sleeping there anymore."

"What if you and Shinji fight again?" Rei asked.

"Then he can sleep on the couch." Asuka said. "But only if he's really being stupid."

"Asuka, you're not going to be sleeping with Shinji in his room." Misato said as she came out of her room. "Nice try though."

"Hey, can't blame me for trying." Asuka said. "But why can't Rei take my bed, or even Shinji's bed?"

"How would I be a responsible parent if I let two teenagers sleep in the same room?" Misato asked.

"Shinji doesn't have that kind of initiative!" Asuka said. "He gets jittery when he sees me in a tank top!"

"Do you really expect me to believe that?" Misato asked.

"Well, yeah, it's the truth." Asuka said.

"Yeah… bullshit…" Mari giggled sleepily. "You'd be letting the puppy bury his bone in the princess' garden if they shared a room…"

"Mari, that's… huh…" Misato said. "She's not wrong."

"Mhmm…" Mari mumbled as she fell back asleep.

"Well, isn't she a ball of fire this morning." Misato said. "Mari, wake up." Mari settled herself into the chair, but did not stir. "Oh great, she's really asleep again." Misato mumbled.

"That is unfortunate." Rei said.

"Why?" Asuka asked. "She can't bug us when she's a sleep."

"I wanted to talk to you all about something." Rei said. "But I don't want to wait too long."

"Shinji, can I wake her up?" Asuka asked.

"Just be gentle." Shinji said.

Asuka stood up and walked over to Mari's chair and leaned down, less than an inch from Mari's ear and took a deep breath. "GOOD MORNING FOUR EYES!" Asuka shouted.

Mari jumped so severely she fell out of the chair and sprawled out on the floor, hitting her head in the process. As she stood up, she rubbed her head where it had hit the floor.

"That was not very nice." Mari said in a huff. "I was comfortable."

"Well, you were making Rei wait being all selfish." Asuka said.

"Asuka, be nice." Shinji said. "But she's is right, why come out here just to fall asleep?"

"I enjoy the light." Mari said.

"So, Rei, what did you want to tell us?" Misato asked as she sat down and Mari lifted herself grumpily back into her chair.

"I wanted to talk about Christmas." Rei said.

"Yeah, it's a few months away, Rei." Shinji said. "We have plenty of time to plan."

"You mean eleven months." Mari added.

"No, not this coming Christmas, I mean last Christmas." Rei said. "The one we all missed."

"Yeah…?" Asuka said.

"Well… can we, redo it?" Rei asked.

"We can't go back in time, Rei." Misato said.

"No… I just want us to have Christmas as a family… to make up what we had to miss." Rei said. "I have never had a true family before…"

"Rei, we've done Christmas before." Shinji said.

"Yes, as friends, onii–chan. But I was not the one that was there." Rei replied. "But I wish to experience it as a family, and experience my first Christmas."

"Well… I mean it would be nice." Misato said. "Even if it's not official yet, it would be nice to go out together as a family."

"But what about dinner?" Shinji asked.

"And the presents?" Mari exclaimed.

"We can go out for dinner." Rei said. "I would actually like to try the karaoke place Mari likes so much."

"But what about the presents?" Mari repeated.

"I believe the spirit of Christmas, from my understanding, is a time for thankfulness, self–reflection, and togetherness." Rei explained. "I don't think we need presents to enjoy that feeling. Right?"

"You're right, Rei." Misato said. "So, we'll go out for dinner… and we won't exchange gifts, just enjoy each other's company."

"That sounds nice." Shinji said.

"Yeah, I guess." Asuka said. "So… no presents at all?"

"No need for them." Misato said. "We did miss the day itself."

"Oh… ok." Asuka said.

"Well… that kinda sucks." Mari said. "I love presents…"

"I believe we can get through this one Christmas without them." Shinji said.

"So, when will we go for dinner?" Mari asked.

"I guess this afternoon." Misato said. "I have to work tonight."

"So, it's settled." Rei said happily. "I will go get ready."

"So will I." Shinji said as he got up and went to his room.

"Yeah, Rei, let's pick out something nice for you to wear or whatever." Asuka said. "You don't need to be wearing a school uniform again."

–––

Shinji was sitting in his room. He was the first to make it to the shower, thankfully enough, and had gotten dressed to go out, but wasn't sure what to do for the next several hours. So, he went to Asuka's room in the hopes of at least not being bored sitting in his room alone like he once did. As he got up and opened his door, he saw Asuka standing there, ready to knock.

"Oh, that's convenient." Asuka said. "You ready?"

"Yeah, are you?" Shinji asked.

"No, but I wanted to talk to you about something." Asuka said. "Mind coming to my room?"

"Not at all." Shinji said.

Shinji followed Asuka without a second thought and sat down on Asuka's bed when she motioned to it. "So, what did you want to talk about?" Shinji asked.

"This." Asuka said as she handed Shinji a battered looking Christmas gift. "I wanted to give this to you weeks ago… but we had our… falling out."

Shinji said. "But can I open it?"

"Yeah, it's your Christmas present." Asuka said.

"But I… I didn't get you anything!" Shinji protested as he went to hand the gift back.

"Baka, you don't give gifts back to girls like that!" Asuka said angrily. "It's just not right!"

"Sorry, it's just not fair not giving you anything." Shinji said. "I just… it was the first thing I thought of."

Asuka sat down next to Shinji on the bed. "Man, you're dumb sometimes." Asuka said. "But I guess it was for the right reasons, so you're forgiven."

"Why didn't you give this to me earlier?" Shinji asked. "I mean, I know we got sidetracked earlier…"

"Well, I had a lot to apologize for." Asuka said. "You know, our argument the other day… and then making you sleep alone… I kinda forgot until Rei brought up the presents."

"Asuka, I told you, you didn't have to apologize." Shinji said. "So, what happened to the wrapping paper? Did you drop it?"

"I'd rather not discuss it." Asuka said. "If you don't mind."

"It's ok, I don't mind. But…" Shinji said. "Can we talk about Christmas?"

"You mean this past one?" Asuka asked.

"Yeah." Shinji said.

"No." Asuka said. "We need to put all that shit behind us. We can't keep talking about it and thinking about it… it was all out of our control… we were just pawns."

"But Asuka, I could have done…" Shinji began.

"Shinji Ikari, stop right there!" Asuka said angrily. "I know you like blaming yourself for stuff, but what happened with Kaworu… he tricked you, he found your weakness, my weakness, all our weaknesses and exploited them! We didn't stand a chance, especially if he's several million years old or something… just forget about it!"

"I can't though…" Shinji said. "I hurt everyone…"

Asuka gently grabbed Shinji's chin. "Shinji, looking back, as stupid as you were being defending that fucker, you made up for it when you literally brought me back from the edge of death… if you didn't love me as much as you did, I'd… I wouldn't be here. So whatever you did, you're forgiven. Now stop thinking about it and open your damn present before you make me mad, baka!"

"I… I will Asuka." Shinji said. "But not before I say thank you." Shinji leaned forward and kissed Asuka on the lips and smiled. "For saying that."

"You're welcome." Asuka said. "Now please, open your present already. You're making me very impatient."

Shinji nodded in agreement and unwrapped the gift. Inside was a plain cardboard box. Shinji opened the box and saw a purple GameBoy Color, and a copy of Pokémon Green.

"Wait… I thought… so you weren't kidding when you told me about these." Shinji said.

"If course I wasn't kidding, baka!" Asuka said. "I wanted you to have it for Christmas…but giving them to you now will do."

"Thank you, Asuka." Shinji said. "I'm… I love it."

"Well, I have one too." Asuka said as she reached over to her nightstand and showed Shinji her own set. "A berry colored one with Pokémon Red." Asuka smiled. "And then these finally got here…" Asuka pulled three more boxes. "Do you know how hard it is to find this stuff?"

"What is it?" Shinji asked.

"Well… I researched the games and figured out that there were two more games, and I thought that we could all play together." Asuka said as she showed Shinji what she had bought. "This ice blue one and Pokémon Blue are for Rei, and the other one, Pokémon Yellow, comes with some special branded GameBoy thing."

"Asuka that's really sweet." Shinji said.

"Well, it wasn't just about us all playing together." Asuka said. "I wanna catch 'em all!"

Shinji set down his GameBoy and moved the others out of Asuka's lap. "Still, it's really nice that you thought of everyone like that…" Shinji said with a smile. "It's very… sexy."

"Are you coming on to me, baka?" Asuka asked.

"Is it working?" Shinji asked.

"But… we have to get ready." Asuka said with a smile. "But I guess we can push off getting ready for a little while… we do have time after all." Asuka paused. "Do you… can you go again after this morning?"

"I think so." Shinji said. "At least it feels like I can."

As Shinji slid Asuka's shirt off and Asuka fumbled with Shinji's pants, neither of them noticed that Mari had walked into the room, a towel wrapped around her chest.

"Hey princess, what are you wearing tonight?" Mari asked as she fluffed her hair. "I don't want to be under…" Mari looked up and saw what Shinji and Asuka were doing. "Holy shit! You're actually doing it! Puppy, you pack a punch, don't you?!"

"I… uh… oh boy…" Shinji muttered.

"What the fuck, four eyes!" Asuka shouted. "Do you knock?!"

"Hey, this is my room too." Mari said as she dropped her towel. "Mind if I join in?"

"Fucking pervert!" Asuka screamed.

Shinji slowly got up and away from Asuka and pulled up his pants. "Well… I'll just leave you two to argue."

"Good plan, baka!" Asuka shouted. "You don't want to see how badly I mangle her corpse!"

"Oh please, your bark is worse than your bite, princess." Mari said calmly. "All I wanted to do was join the fun!"

Shinji left the room and slid the door closed behind him as Asuka screamed a response. "Wow… barely got away from that one." Shinji muttered.

"Onii–chan, why is everyone yelling?" Rei asked innocently. "It's Christmas."

"Oh, it's just those two being themselves." Shinji replied. "It'll die down before dinner."

"What are they arguing about?" Rei asked.

"Oh, I have no idea." Shinji said as he went to his room.

–––

Asuka was pouting in her room. Asuka had screamed at Mari for a good half an hour and then sat down angrily on her bed, with her back to Mari. Mari had sat on her own bed, glaring at the back of Asuka's head. The argument may have died down, but Asuka was still fuming that Mari had ruined yet another moment with Shinji, and Mari was upset because Asuka always overreacted.

"Asuka, will you relax for once?" Mari asked. "I was only kidding."

"That's all you ever do." Asuka grumbled. "And now today is ruined because of you."

"How?" Mari asked.

"Because we argued!" Asuka said angrily. "And you ruined the thank you I was getting from Shinji's present!"

"You gave him a present?" Mari asked.

"Yeah, and I have one for you too… but I don't think you deserve it now." Asuka said.

"You bought me something?" Mari asked.

"Yeah, and now I'm regretting it." Asuka said.

"Asuka… what are you really mad about?" Mari asked. "Because this isn't your usual yell at me for a few minutes and storm off kinda thing… you've been really weird the past few days. First Shinji, and now me…"

"I'm upset with you, you moron." Asuka said.

"Look, I get it… I barged in on you two and made a bad joke, I'm sorry, ok?" Mari said. "Can you forgive me now?"

"It's not about that." Asuka said.

"Well, what is it about?" Mari asked.

"You really need me to tell you, miss Marty McFly?" Asuka snapped sarcastically.

"Oh…" Mari said. "I thought you said…"

"I lied!" Asuka shouted back. "How's it feel!"

"I… look, I'm sorry, Asuka, ok?" Mari said. "But I had to, don't you understand? I didn't want to lie to you… I didn't think I'd ever meet you… but there you were, my friend's daughter… do you think it was easy for me to not tell you both? How do you think it made me feel to not tell you both who I was, that everything could be ok?"

"You could've though!" Asuka said. "Why didn't you?!"

"Because, if someone else found out, I could have been killed!" Mari said. "I thought I explained this… but they wanted me dead, SEELE, that's how I got trapped, that's why Kyoko and Yui got trapped too, but I came back, I was lucky… and I hate that I can't figure out how to get them back!"

"I… I didn't… what do you mean?" Asuka asked.

"Nothing." Mari said. "But we're the three people that made it possible to create the Evangelions… all because I wanted to bring my parents back from the dead…"

"You didn't tell us that…" Asuka muttered.

"Well… I don't want you guys to blame me for your mothers being trapped in Evangelions, ok?" Mari said tearfully. "I hate seeing my research being used to create those things… especially cause they cause you guys so much pain."

"Oh… scheisse…" Asuka muttered as she got up from her own bed and sat next to Mari. "Don't cry you great big idiot. I don't blame you for anything… I always loved piloting."

"Really?" Mari asked.

"Yeah." Asuka said. "But you crying doesn't make me less mad at you."

"I wasn't doing it for pity, princess." Asuka said. "I just wish things had gone differently… you could've been calling me Auntie Mari all these years, with your mother right by your side… and it's my fault…"

"No its not." Asuka said. "It's those assholes who wanted to get rid of her. I don't blame you, you big dummy." Asuka got up and reached under her bed. "Here… maybe this'll make you feel better." Asuka handed Mari her present and patted her on the head.

"You go this for me?" Mari asked.

"Yeah." Asuka said. "I thought it would be nice if we all played together like a team."

"That's really nice of you, Asuka…" Mari muttered. "So does this mean you forgive me?"

"No." Asuka said as she saw Mari's face fall. "But I don't hate you."

"Why won't you forgive me though?" Mari asked.

"Because you need to make up for it." Asuka said.

"I'll do anything." Mari said. "I don't want to lose you as a friend."

"Don't be so dramatic, I'm not going to stop being your friend, dummkopf." Asuka said. "I just want you to tell me all you can about my mother."

"That's it?" Mari asked.

"Yeah, it's not much, I just… never got a chance to know her." Asuka said.

"I can do that, Asuka." Mari said. "So… uh… about Shinji… have you… um…"

"Yes." Asuka said tersely. "Not that it's any of your business."

"Hey, I just… uh… you're being safe right?" Mari asked.

"Yes, but why are you asking?" Asuka asked.

"He's my godson, I'm always concerned about him." Mari said. "And you're too young to have kids…"

"Jesus, can we not…" Asuka mumbled.

"What?" Mari said. "I won't tell anyone what you guys are up to… but maybe, I don't know, put a sock out so I know not to walk into my own room."

"Fair enough." Asuka said. "But we'll probably be in his room…"

"So… how many times…?" Mari began.

"Two." Asuka said. "But can we stop talking about this?"

"Only if you give me a hug." Mari said.

"Fine…" Asuka replied. "Come here."

Asuka reluctantly hugged Mari, while Mari warmly embraced her. "So… how was it?"

"Why do you want to know?" Asuka asked.

"I don't know, I'm curious." Mari said. "Why else would I ask?"

"Cause you're a degenerate pervert." Asuka said.

Mari smirked. "Well… that too."

–––

Shinji was lying on his bed. It had been several minutes since the taunting and ridiculousness from Asuka and Mari had died down. He had decided however to wait a little while longer before going in and disturbing what must be a very tenuous peace. He heard a knock on his door and sat up nervously.

"Come in." Shinji said.

The door slid open and Misato stepped inside. "Hey, Shinji, can we talk for a minute?"

"Sure." Shinji replied. "What about?"

"Your dad, if you don't mind." Misato said.

"Yeah… sure." Shinji replied.

"Look, I know we haven't talked about this very much, or much of anything because I've been working so much." Misato said.

"It's ok, Misato." Shinji said. "I know you're busy."

"Shinji, it's not an excuse to ignore what happened." Misato said. "And I'm sorry I haven't spent much time with you."

"You mean us, right?" Shinji asked.

"Well, don't tell the rest of them, but you're my favorite." Misato said.

"Misato, I thought that parents aren't supposed to have favorites?" Shinji asked.

"Yes, but, I'm not a conventional parent, am I?" Misato joked.

"No, you're not." Shinji said. "So… what about my father did you want to talk about?"

"Well… the news has been given everything that isn't deemed classified now…" Misato said. "Which, doesn't paint him in the best light."

"Yeah, I know how awful he is." Shinji said.

"Well… his role in Second Impact is still classified, but there's also the fact that he's been branded a war criminal for crimes against humanity…"

"So?" Shinji asked.

"Well… people may view you differently because you're related to him." Misato said. "It happened to me after Second Impact when they released the names. Not everyone figured out I was the survivor… but with you, everyone in town knows…"

"Misato, it's no different than when I was little." Shinji said. "People assumed he killed my mom… they were always whispering about it in town. I'm used to it."

"Well… I just wanted to warn you." Misato said. "I figured you should know."

"Thanks, Misato." Shinji replied as he hugged her. "So, was that all?"

"Well, no." Misato said. "I don't know if you feel guilty for shooting you father, but you shouldn't. He deserved it, but you shouldn't have had to be the one to do that."

"It doesn't matter, Misato." Shinji said. "I don't really regret it at all."

"Well, I guess that's good." Misato said. "So… then you won't mind me giving you this."

Misato gave Shinji a small, but heavy box that Shinji opened to find a gun.

"Misato… what is this?" Shinji asked.

"It's a Heckler & Koch USP chambered for .45 ACP." Misato rattled off. "It's the one you shot your dad with."

"You kept it?" Shinji asked.

"Well, yeah, it still works." Misato said. "But it's yours now."

"Why?" Shinji asked. "I mean… what do I need a gun for? Is it like a trophy?"

"No, it's more like a reminder." Misato said. "That sometimes the most difficult choice to make is the only one that an you."

"Thanks, Misato." Shinji said.

"No problem, Shinji." Misato replied. "I also figured I could show you how to shoot it properly, it could sort of be… our thing."

"What about Asuka?" Shinji asked. "She might enjoy this."

"Well… she wouldn't want to come to NERV for target practice, would she?" Misato asked.

"There have to be other places." Shinji said. "Maybe we should all learn, in case we ever need to defend ourselves."

"That's pretty smart, Shinji." Misato said. "But can we just once on our own, without all the crazy?" Misato motioned to Asuka and Mari's room. "I mean, them near loaded firearms would be… dangerous."

"Well… maybe." Shinji said. "We'd have to go on a good day."

"I guess…" Misato mumbled. "But what are they fighting about anyway?"

"No idea." Shinji said. "They're probably just upset about not being able to get presents."

"Yeah, that makes sense." Misato said. "Well… the gun's not loaded if you're worried about that, and put it somewhere safe, ok?"

"I will, Misato." Shinji replied. "And thank you."

"I should be the one thanking you." Misato said as she got up. "You're the one that saved the world after all."

"So, should we get going?" Shinji asked.

"Yeah, sounds like everything is finally calm… so we can go." Misato said.

–––

After a very successful dinner, and a great round of karaoke, the group arrived home, a little tired, but very happy. Everyone had gotten along great, and although the beginning of dinner was quiet, everything got going when Misato let them all have a bit of eggnog. Asuka had also brought Rei's present with her, and Rei was overjoyed to be included in a group activity that Asuka said they could start tomorrow once she'd gotten the batteries.

When they got home, everyone was getting ready to break off to their respective rooms because they were exhausted, but Mari grabbed Shinji by the arm and wouldn't let him go.

"Puppy, I want my present now." Mari said.

"What present?" Shinji asked. "I didn't get anyone anything this year."

"My cuddles." Mari said. "You promised to cuddle with me for overreacting about my past."

"I… did I?" Shinji asked.

"I believe you did, onii–chan." Rei said. "You are obligated to fulfill your promise."

"Yeah, but… Asuka…" Shinji muttered.

"Don't look at me, baka, you promised her." Asuka said. "But I will be in room to supervise…"

"What, I won't take advantage of him." Mari said innocently. "He's taken."

"Yeah, whatever." Asuka said.

"Fine, just no sex." Misato said. "This better not be a rouse to get Shinji in your room for Asuka to and him to knock boots."

"Seriously, miso?" Mari asked. "I take my cuddles very seriously."

"Well, excuse me." Misato said sarcastically.

"So… Asuka, do you mind?" Shinji asked.

"Not really." Asuka said. "But if she touches you, she'll lose a fucking hand."

"I'll be the perfect gentleman with him." Mari joked.

"You better." Asuka said.

"Hey, Rei, if you want to, you can use my bed tonight." Shinji said.

"Thank you, onii–chan." Rei said. "Do you have clean sheets?"

"Of course." Shinji replied. "Do you want me to…?"

"I can do it." Rei said. "Where are the sheets?"

"The top shelf of the closet." Shinji replied.

"Thank you." Rei said. "Goodnight onii–chan…" Rei paused. "And thank you everyone for giving me a great Christmas. It was very… wonderful. And Asuka… thank you so much for the gift…"

"No problem, Rei." Asuka said. "I'll go out and get batteries tomorrow."

"I'm not worried about it." Rei said as she walked away. "I'm just happy to be included."

"Come on, puppy, let's go!" Mari said impatiently. "I want to go bed soon!"

"Ok, will you relax?" Shinji said. "I'm right behind you."

"Not so fast, puppy." Mari said. "I'll lead you there."

Mari dragged Shinji away, with Asuka following closely behind.

"Goodnight Misato!" Shinji called out.

"Night kids." Misato called back.

As Shinji was dragged to Asuka and Mari's room, Mari finally let go of him. "Close your eyes, puppy, I'm changing."

"Ok." Shinji replied as he closed his eyes. Mari quickly stripped down to her panties and pulled on a t–shirt.

"Done." Mari said.

Shinji opened his eyes to see Asuka stripping in front of him. "You can look, baka, you're allowed to now."

"I… ok." Shinji said as he blushed.

"What, you've seen me already." Asuka said. "I know you like it."

"Yeah… I do." Shinji said as he took of his clothes to get ready for bed.

Asuka walked over to Shinji and kissed him as Mari laid down on the bed. "Goodnight, baka."

"Goodnight, Asuka." Shinji replied.

"Come on, puppy!" Mari said impatiently. "I want to cuddle already."

"Oh hold on!" Asuka said. "You've got him all night!"

"Yeah, and you've got him for the rest of your life." Mari joked. "Now get over here and be my little spoon!"

"Yes, Mari." Shinji said as he crawled into bed next to her and she wrapped herself around him. "You're holding me too tight."

"Ok, I'll let up." Mari said as she caught sight of Asuka glaring at her. "What is it, princess?"

"Try not to kill him on me." Asuka said. "I do love him."

"I know." Mari said. "Just try not to glare at us all night…" Mari smirked. "Unless you want to be his little spoon…"

"I… you don't mind?" Asuka asked.

"Why not, call it the Christmas spirit." Mari said.

Asuka nervously walked over and squeezed into bed with the two of them. "Not a lot of room here…"

"We'll make do." Mari said. "Just squeeze tight."

"You just want to rub against him…" Asuka muttered as she spun around to face Shinji. "You won't be the only one though."

"Awww… the puppy's in the middle of a sexy sandwich." Mari joked. "How do you feel?"

"It's very warm…" Shinji said.

"I know how he feels…" Asuka joked. "This should be interesting to sleep with."

"Don't tell me you don't like it." Shinji said.

"Oh I do." Asuka said. "But it's not like we can enjoy while she's here."

"Oh, you can." Mari joked. "But I get to watch."

"Mari, be nice." Shinji said. "Let's go to sleep… it'll go away eventually."

"How comforting." Asuka joked. "Goodnight, baka."

Asuka nuzzled her head against Shinji's neck, and Shinji rested his head on hers. "Goodnight, Asuka… and Merry Christmas."

* * *

A/N: I do not own Evangelion or any of the characters, GAINAX and the other distributors of NGE related material do. I am simply using them as a backdrop for my fanfic.

So to everyone out there reading, Merry Christmas (2017) everyone! The story is of course a few days later than Christmas, but considering that Christmas was missed in the one shot, it seemed more than appropriate.

Timelines are very important to me! So, this one shot takes place shortly after the end of Chapter 12 of Episode VI, in the direct aftermath of the Battle of the Geofront, and the end of Rejected Third Impact. The title is for the Christmas that was missed because of the events of the story.

Not your typical Christmas story, but this is Evangelion after all, so there's a lot of leeway for unexpected things to happen, especially considering that this is the direct aftermath of Episode VI's conclusion, there are still several loose ends that need to be dealt with. First is the fact Shinji shot his father several chapters back, with that guilt still weighing on his mind. Misato puts it somewhat at ease with her gift. Asuka on the other hand ties up a very loose end with the Pokémon games her mother got for her over 10 years ago, by finally fulfilling the promise she made to him so long ago. Asuka also thought ahead and got games for the other two, showing she's become more thoughtful of other's feelings. Finally, the disk Mari's had in her possession that Fuyutsuki gave her when she was freed from her astral prison is going to be shared with Shinji and eventually everyone else.

As I said before, and will always say at the end of anything, please leave comments, as I would like to try to improve the story going forward any way I can. And, hell, constructive criticism is a good thing.

* * *

つづく


	4. One Shot 4 – How Asuka Saved Christmas

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Legacy  
One Shot – How Asuka Saved Christmas

* * *

December 23, 2017 – Comfort 17 Apartments

Shinji was just coming home. He was very tired from a long day out shopping for Christmas, which, per Asuka's requires would be a "proper western Christmas complete with a normal dinner" as Asuka put it. Driving home was extremely taxing, and Shinji had trouble concentrating on the road, almost crashing three times on the way home, and as he got back to the house, he felt very weak. As he got to the front door, he was utterly exhausted. Shinji had to drag himself inside and to the kitchen and struggled to get the groceries on the counter.

Asuka and Mari were waiting for him inside as he got to the table and haphazardly placed the bags on the table. Asuka gave him a funny look and grabbed the groceries before they fell to floor.

"Baka, what's wrong with you?" Asuka asked as she got the bags firmly on the table. "You know this stuff is important."

"I'm just tired, Asuka…" Shinji muttered. "Sorry…"

Shinji suddenly began lose his balance and slowly slumped sideways, falling straight towards the floor. "Shinji!" Asuka and Mari cried as they dove to catch him, with Mari getting there just in time to keep Shinji from slamming his head on the floor.

"Shinji, are you ok?!" Asuka asked worriedly.

"Hey, wake up!" Mari said impatiently, but Shinji just laid there, unresponsive.

"I think we need to get him to the hospital." Asuka said.

"How?" Mari asked. "It'll take an ambulance forever to get here."

"I'll take the Kuga." Asuka said. "I can drive."

"You don't have a license yet!" Mari exclaimed. "I only let Shinji drive cause I know he drives safe!"

"What are you implying, four eyes?" Asuka asked angrily.

"Why are you both yelling?" Rei said as she walked into the kitchen. Her eyes widened when she saw Shinji on the floor. "Did one of you assault my onii–chan?"

"No!" Asuka said. "He just came home and collapsed!"

"Perhaps we should get him to the hospital." Rei said. "He looks very pale."

"But none of us can drive!" Mari exclaimed.

"Asuka is more than capable." Rei said. "If you wish you can stay behind, Mari, we can handle moving him ourselves."

"No!" Mari said. "I'm not leaving him!"

"Then shut up and hand me his keys." Asuka said. "And then someone can tell me where exactly the hospital is…"

"Yeah… very comforting…" Mari muttered breathlessly.

–––

Asuka, Mari, and Rei were all at the local clinic. It was closest thing to the house, and they didn't think dragging Shinji all the way to the hospital was the smartest idea. So, Shinji was lying in a bed in front them while they were waiting for a doctor to tell them the news. They all looked worried, and Mari was still white from the drive over, so she looked almost as bad as Shinji.

As the doctor walked over, a look of concern came across Asuka's face. "Hi there, Isshin Kurosaki, nice to meet you."

"Hello." Rei said.

"Hi…" Mari muttered quietly.

"Sorry to cut to the chase doc." Asuka said. "Is he going to be ok?"

"He should be fine." Dr. Kurosaki said. "He's come down with a rather nasty case of the flu."

"He what?!" Asuka shouted.

"Well, he must have had it for a few days." Dr. Kurosaki replied. "Has he been sleeping?"

"No, onii–chan's been busy getting ready for Christmas." Rei said. "He's been very focused on making it perfect."

"Well, he's run himself down quite well." Dr. Kurosaki said. "So, he'll need a few days rest and caring for and he'll be right as rain."

"Is that it?" Mari asked. "You can't give him something?"

"No, unfortunately we still haven't found cure yet." Dr. Kurosaki said. "But he should be back on his feet in a few days, not to worry."

"So, we can go?" Asuka asked.

"Yes, you're free to go." Dr. Kurosaki said. "Do you need help getting him out? I could get my son to help you…"

"No, we can handle it." Mari said. "But thank you."

"Not a problem." Dr. Kurosaki replied. "If he needs anything else, just come back."

"Yeah, let's hope not." Asuka said as the girls moved Shinji to the car.

"Have a nice day." Rei said as they left.

–––

Everyone was sitting very worriedly in the living room. They were all wondering how to salvage Christmas without Shinji being able to cook.

"So… we're fucked, right?" Mari asked. "Right in the down under…"

"No we're not, I can cook…" Misato started.

"NO!" Asuka and Mari shouted in unison.

"Hey, no need to be so damn mean about it…" Misato said.

"Well, we don't all want to end up like him, do we?" Mari asked.

"Hey, you guys don't cook any better." Misato shot back.

"No, I just know better than to offer." Mari said. "I'm not delusional about my cooking skills, miso…"

"Oh, will you two old biddies stop?!" Asuka shouted. "We're trying to fix Christmas, and you're having a pissing contest!"

"Well said, Asuka." Rei said calmly as the other two stared at Asuka.

"So, Rei, can you cook?" Asuka asked.

"No, I am not very good in the kitchen."

"Well, I can do it." Asuka said.

"Wow, here's someone else who's delusional." Mari quipped.

"I'm no delusional… I've just been watching Shinji cook a lot more." Asuka said. "I… I think I can handle it."

"That's a bad idea, princess." Mari said.

"Why?" Asuka asked. "I've really been paying attention. He even lets me help sometimes!"

"He must have had this flu for a while…" Misato muttered.

"Yeah, or he's losing his mind." Mari added.

"Hey, I'm not scared of trying again!" Asuka said loudly. "I actually understand how to cook Western food!"

"What happened last time?" Rei asked.

"A host of unfortunate accidents." Asuka said.

"You mean like setting a perfectly good rice cooker on fire… and then you know what happened." Mari said.

"Do we really need to…?" Asuka asked.

"We almost killed him!" Mari said exasperatedly.

 ** _Flashback_**

 ** _Shinji sat down and was presented a platter of onigiri, which looked nice enough and a plate of pork curry, with no rice._**

 ** _"Why isn't there rice with the…" Shinji started._**

 ** _"The rice cooker caught fire!" Asuka shouted._**

 ** _"Asuka, I was only wondering…" Shinji said._**

 ** _"Well, stop wondering and eat!" Asuka said angrily._**

 ** _"Really, don't scare him princess." Mari said. "Don't worry Shinji, everything was cooked well, especially that last batch of rice."_**

 ** _Shinji looked at the food in front of him. "Well it all looks really good." Shinji said. "But how did exactly did the rice cooker catch fire?"_**

 ** _"Well, basically… we didn't put enough water in and when the moisture disappeared, it hated up and caught fire. We threw it off the veranda to save the apartment, which is why we smell like smoke and we're covered in soot." Mari explained._**

 ** _"Alright… well I guess I'll get a new one tomorrow." Shinji said as he caught a scary look from Asuka. "But, I'll start with the curry."_**

 ** _Shinji took his knife and fork and attempted to cut the pork, and with some effort he cut through the tough brick of meat. He coated it with curry ad tasted it, realizing the pork was so overcooked, it was like chewing leather. The curry sauce was surprisingly well done to Shinji's delight._**

 ** _"So, how was it?" Asuka asked._**

 ** _"Um…" Shinji said nervously. "The curry was really good, but the pork…"_**

 ** _"What's wrong with it?" Mari asked._**

 ** _"It's too tough… almost like leather." Shinji said. "How long did you cook it?"_**

 ** _"Oh, about a half hour in the frying pan." Asuka said._**

 ** _"What?!" Shinji said. "That's way too long!"_**

 ** _"Oh, well_** **sorry _Iron Chef Shinji…" Asuka said snidely._**

 ** _"Well, why don't you try the onigiri?" Mari asked. "I'm sure they're good!"_**

 ** _"What's in them? Any vegetables?" Shinji asked._**

 ** _"No, one's bacon, one's sausage, and one's ground beef!" Mari said excitedly. "I seasoned the meat myself, and Asuka did the rice!"_**

 ** _"Ok…" Shinji said nervously. Shinji ok one of the onigiri at random, and took a big bite. Moments later, he regretting doing just that._**

 ** _"WAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Shinji screamed. "HOT! HOT! HOT! I NEED WATER, WATER PLEASE! IT BURNS!"_**

 ** _Asuka and Mari both ran to get him water, and in their haste as they each ran back with a glassful, they slammed into each other, sending both glasses right at the back of Shinji's head, covering him in water and knocking his face into the table._**

 ** _"OW!" Shinji exclaimed. "Guys, please, just let me get the water… you're hurting me more…" Shinji pleaded as Asuka grabbed another glass of water, and Mari checked to see if he was ok. Asuka handed him the glass of water and Shinji drank it in one gulp._**

 ** _"It didn't help… it still burns…" Shinji moaned. "Mari, what was in the ground beef? Why is it so hot?" Shinji asked weakly._**

 ** _"Oh, well let's see…" Mari said tapping her chin. "I used wasabi… parsley… basil… and what was it again? Oh yeah… something called shredded ghost pepper."_**

 ** _"What!?" Shinji exclaimed. "Why did you mix that all in?" Shinji asked. "You could have killed me! Ghost peppers are the spiciest thing on the planet!"_**

 ** _"Oh, I didn't know…" Mari said. "Sorry, it just smelled nice…"_**

 ** _"Well… they do but…" Shinji clutched his stomach. "Oh no…"_**

 ** _As Shinji jumped up from the table to run off, he clutched the table and grimaced before he let out a stream of bile from his stomach, effectively empting the contents of his stomach all over the table and kitchen floor, and running the food Mari and Asuka had prepared._**

 ** _Shinji then promptly collapsed onto the floor, moaning._**

 ** _"SHINJI!" Both girls screamed as they looked over the mess he made. Asuka sat on the ground and cradled Shinji in her arms, while Mari crouched down next to Asuka and looked worriedly at him._**

 ** _"Shinji, what's wrong?" Mari asked worriedly._**

 ** _"My stomach hurts… it's like its being twisted into knots…" Shinji moaned._**

 ** _"Oh shit…" Asuka muttered. "We killed him…"_**

 ** _"No, not yet…" Mari said. "But close…"_**

 ** _"Mari, where there any other spices in there?" Shinji asked._**

 ** _"No, just what I told you." Mari said._**

 ** _"What about the rice?" Shinji asked weakly._**

 ** _"Well, I washed it with a load of baking soda, then I cooked it with a load of salt…" Asuka said. "Is that wrong?"_**

 ** _"Yeah…" Shinji replied. "When you wash the rice, you just rinse it off really good… you don't actually wash it… didn't you two use the cookbook?"_**

 ** _"Well, it wasn't very specific…" Asuka said._**

 ** _"Yeah, it just said wash." Mari said. "I suggested soap, but Asuka used baking soda instead."_**

 ** _"Thank god for that…" Shinji muttered. "How much salt did you use?"_**

 ** _"Well, I made six cups of rice, so I put in a cup of salt to be safe." Asuka said. "I thought it would taste nice."_**

 ** _"No, Asuka, all that stuff I think is what made me sick… that and the spices Mari used in the meat… ugh…" Shinji said._**

 ** _"Oh…" Asuka said sadly. "Mari, go call Hikari… I don't think we should try to help anymore… we're kind of fucking useless…"_**

 ** _"No, you're not, it's just a couple mistakes…" Shinji said as he tried to smile._**

 ** _"A couple mistakes don't just make someone thrown up and collapse, baka!" Asuka said angrily. "We made you throw up, we're fucking useless at cooking! I even set a rice cooker on fire! We should have never tried to cook for you! It was a stupid idea!"_**

 ** _"No, it was really sweet of both of you to try…" Shinji said. "I appreciate it, even if the final result was not what you had hoped for…"_**

 ** _"Wait, we almost kill you, and you're ok with that?" Asuka asked._**

 ** _"Yeah, Shinji, you're not even a little mad?" Mari asked._**

 ** _"How can I be mad when it came from such a kind place in your hearts?" Shinji explained. "That kind of thoughtfulness is wonderful, and can never be hated."_**

 ** _"Wow, he's clearly not feeling well." Mari quipped._**

 ** _"You really are an idiot…" Asuka said. "Baka…"_**

 ** _End Flashback_**

"You really didn't have to remind me…" Asuka muttered.

"Well, you seem to have forgotten that the last time we cooked, we almost killed him dead." Mari said slowly. "I don't want to repeat the process with all of us."

"Look, we don't really have much of a choice." Asuka said. "Misato will kill us, you're too afraid, and Rei doesn't know how."

"That's not untrue." Mari said. "I guess we don't have a choice…"

"Why can't we just order out?!" Misato asked.

"Because, we're not having take–out for Christmas!" Asuka shouted. "I'm cooking and that's the end of it!" Asuka got up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a sick boyfriend to check on!"

* * *

December 25, 2017 – Comfort 17 Apartments

It was mid–morning on Christmas day and Asuka was in the kitchen prepping everything for dinner. After having spent the better part of the morning exchanging gifts, Misato left for NERV to deal with some paperwork and would be back later, and Rei took Shinji to his room to lay back down and keep an eye on him. Mari went off to her own room and went to relax, leaving Asuka alone to begin her dreaded task. She had a loads of raw food around her on the counters, and every bowl, pot, and pan out that she could find. On her left was the cookbook she'd bought Shinji several years ago, and was reading all the instructions very carefully.

"Well… this should be easy…" Asuka muttered a she started cooking. She heard Mari walk into the kitchen. "Go away Mari, I'm busy."

"Geez… I was only asking if you needed help." Mari said.

"I'm fine, just go check on Shinji." Asuka said. "He needs you more than I do."

"Ok…" Mari said. "You sure you got this?"

"Yep." Asuka said. "The instructions are nice and simple."

"Ok…" Mari said as she walked off.

As Asuka was about to begin cooking, her phone went off, and Asuka angrily answered.

"Hello." Asuka said tersely.

" _Hi Asuka!_ " Hikari said happily on the other end. " _Merry Christmas._ "

"Merry Christmas, Hikari." Asuka replied.

" _How's the cooking coming along?_ " Hikari asked.

"I'm doing just fine." Asuka said. "I've got most of it prepped to go."

" _Are you still sure you don't need my help?_ " Hikari asked. " _I really don't…_ "

"I've got it." Asuka said.

" _Ok, as long as you're sure…_ " Hikari said.

"Don't worry so much, it won't be a repeat of last time." Asuka said. "I learned a lot watching Shinji cook."

" _Ok, good luck Asuka._ " Hikari said. " _See you tomorrow._ "

"Yeah, see you tomorrow." Asuka replied as she hung up. "Why does everyone think I can't handle this? Time to prove them wrong…"  
–––

Shinji was lying in bed. He was extremely tired and achy, and still had a minor fever, but was otherwise ok. Mari and Rei were in the room with him to keep an eye on him, and to distract him from Asuka being the one to cook.

"So… what's going on for dinner?" Shinji asked. "Are we ordering out?"

"Nope." Mari said. "Nothing that fancy."

"Then what are we eating?" Shinji asked.

"I believe you're having soup, onii–chan." Rei said. "You're still sick."

"No, I want to have dinner like everyone else." Shinji said. "And where's Asuka, she said she'd take of me."

"She's… busy." Mari said as they heard a crash in the kitchen.

"Mari… where is she." Shinji asked. "And what was that?"

"Nothing." Rei deadpanned. "You're imagining things."

"No I'm not, that crash came from the kitchen!" Shinji said. "Is Asuka cooking? She can't cook, not after the last time… she promised!"

"Hey, Shinji, relax." Mari said. "She said she's got this, so don't worry."

They heard another crash from the kitchen and flurry of curse words in English, Japanese, and German fly from Asuka's mouth in rapid succession.

"Something tells me it's not going so great…" Shinji muttered. "If I could just…"

Mari and Rei got up and pinned Shinji to the bed.

"No, puppy." Mari said. "She's got it… and you or any of us interrupt her, she'll slit our throats."

"She didn't say that…" Shinji said. "Did she?"

"She threatened us all with that." Rei said. "I believe she wants to prove she can cook. She says she's learned a lot from watching you."

"She has?" Shinji asked. "I just thought she wanted to spend time with me…"

"Well, it's flattering that she learned so much from watching you, onii–chan." Rei said. "Is that the right word?"

"Yeah, it is Rei." Shinji said. "But, she's sure? I haven't really showed her anything though."

"She says she is." Mari said. "We'll just wait and see. And if it goes tits up, we can always order take–out."

"Based on the last time, if it goes tits up, we're not going to have enough toilets for what's to come." Shinji said.

"Onii–chan, that's not very nice." Rei said. "Asuka is working very hard to try and fix Christmas for us… it's very sweet."

"It is but… I just don't want her to get upset if she fails." Shinji said. "She was so upset the last time… I wouldn't want her to blame herself like that again."

"Shinji, think of it this way." Mari said. "If she fucks up, offer to teach her… and if she doesn't, ask for sex. It's a win–win."

"Not sure how that's a win–win." Shinji said.

"Neither am I…" Rei muttered.

"Either way, Shinji looks great. He either showed her how to cook, or he's willing to teach her… but the sex is a bonus if she does everything right."

"It's always about sex with you." Shinji said.

"Life is all about sex." Mari said. "Without it, none of us would be here."

"Well, right now, I'm more concerned about how Asuka's doing than about sex." Shinji said. "Can one of you go check on her, please?"

"I will go surreptitiously check on her." Rei said. "If it will put your mind at ease."

"It would." Shinji said.

"Then I will be back momentarily." Rei said as she got up and left. A few moments later, Rei returned with a smile on her face. "I don't believe you have anything to worry about, onii–chan." Rei said. "It all looks fine."

–––

When Asuka had called everyone to dinner, they were all exceedingly nervous. As they all sat down, Asuka eyed them all suspiciously. When everyone looked at the food around them, they were all quite shocked. Everything on the table looked perfect. The sausages Asuka had made looked plump and juicy, the ham had a wonderful glaze to it, and the turkey was a nice golden brown. The potatoes, vegetables, and some food made especially for Rei's unique diet even looked delicious. Shinji looked over at Asuka with a slack jawed expression on his face.

"A… Asuka, this is… wonderful!" Shinji said. "It all looks so…"

"Edible?" Mari asked.

"Tasty?" Rei asked.

"Normal?" Asuka asked.

"Delicious!" Shinji said. "How did you… I mean…"

"Were you worried about me, baka?" Asuka asked.

"Well, after last time… I just wasn't sure." Shinji said. "I shouldn't have doubted you as much as I did though."

"Well, I had a good teacher." Asuka said.

"How though? I never showed you anything." Shinji said.

"Watching you really helped me." Asuka said. "And then the rest came from the cookbook. I was real careful to read everything two or three times… to be safe."

"Well, it all looks good." Shinji said. "Can we start?"

"No, we should wait for Misato." Rei said.

"Tadaima!" Misato called out.

"Looks like we don't have to wait long." Asuka said. "We're at the table, Misato, hurry up!"

"Wow… that smells great!" Misato called back. "What the hell happened in here?!"

"Don't worry about it!" Asuka called. "Mari and Rei will clean up later."

"What happened where, Asuka?" Shinji asked.

"Oh… well, funny story…"

"Oh, here we go…" Mari said. "What did you do, princess?"

"The food may look great, but the kitchen is kinda like a warzone…" Asuka said. "I made a bit of a mess…"

"That's an understatement." Misato said as she sat down. "Third Impact was less destructive… but… uh… Asuka you did all this?" Misato pointed at the food. "I mean… wow…"

"Yep, all on my own." Asuka said. "And none of you thought I could do it, did you?"

"Nope." Misato said quickly.

"No." Mari said bluntly.

"I had faith, Asuka." Rei said.

"I won't lie, Asuka, I was worried." Shinji said. "I'm just glad I was worried for nothing."

"Well then… dig in everyone, food's not just for looking at." Asuka said. "I want to know what everyone thinks of the taste!"

As everyone began serving themselves and tasting the food, they all looked pleasantly surprised.

"Wow, Asuka, you did a great job." Shinji said. "Thank you for… well, thank you for doing this."

"It wasn't easy, but I'm just glad I was able to do something seeing as you were sick." Asuka said.

"Damn, this is good!" Mari exclaimed. "So glad you did this!"

"Yeah, thanks Asuka." Misato said with her mouth full.

"The eggplant is very good, Asuka, thank you."

"You're welcome everybody!" Asuka said. "And Merry Christmas!"

* * *

January 1, 2018 – Comfort 17 Apartments

After such a successful Christmas dinner, everyone had gone to bed stuffed. Shinji even felt better after Asuka's home cooked meal, so much so, Asuka offered her own thank you to him for showing her so much. However, on Boxing Day, a holiday Mari had heard about from her time in England, things did not go well in the Katsuragi household. Even though Shinji was feeling normal again with his fever having broken, everyone else was not so lucky. They had all caught his flu and were now bedridden with only Shinji to care for them. And in the week since, there flu symptoms had not improved very much, in fact they'd gotten worse. So, Shinji was the only one that could care for them, and he was currently in with Asuka, and she was trying her best not to be upset.

"Baka…" Asuka muttered. "Why can't we have a normal New Year's for once?"

"I don't know, Asuka." Shinji said. "I think this year is way better than last year's."

"Don't be cute." Asuka said. "I mean it… I don't want to be sick…"

"I said I was sorry." Shinji said. "I didn't think everyone would get sick."

"Yeah, well, it happened." Asuka said. "But at least we had a nice donner to throw up the next morning…"

"Yeah, I know." Shinji said. "But I'm just glad it wasn't the food that made everyone sick."

"Why?" Asuka asked.

"Because, that means you can cook now too." Shinji said. "I don't have to do it alone anymore."

"Hey, baka, don't get any ideas, got it?" Asuka said. "That was a onetime thing… emergencies only."

"Asuka, come on, I could really use your help with the cooking." Shinji said. "It's stressful being the only cook here."

"Really?" Asuka asked.

"Yeah… but maybe I can still show you things too if you help." Shinji said. "Like how to not wreck the kitchen in the process."

"Hey, that wasn't intentional ya know." Asuka said defensively.

"Yeah, but it still took me two days to clean up all on my own seeing as you guys were sick." Shinji said. "Thankfully nothing was accidently set on fire…"

"Is anyone ever going to let me live that down?" Asuka asked.

"Probably not." Shinji said. "I am really proud you pulled that off, Asuka."

"Stop telling me that!" Asuka exclaimed. "I wasn't looking for praise… I just didn't want another ruined Christmas… that's all…"

"Asuka, that's really sweet." Shinji said. "It's almost like your heart has grown two sizes too big or something…"

"Oh, very funny Cindy Lou Who." Asuka quipped. "Now stop teasing me and make me feel better."

"Well, I don't think I can, besides giving you ibuprofen to bring own your fever and stop the aching." Shinji said.

"Mien Gott, this sucks." Asuka said. "How bad was this when you had it?"

"At times I just wanted to die." Shinji said. "But that'll pass… eventually."

"Oh, what fun…" Asuka muttered. "And this stupid thing made me miss New Year's too… this sucks so hard…"

Shinji kissed Asuka on the forehead. "Don't worry, you'll be fine soon enough, and you'll be immune to this strain of the flu." Shinji smiled. "Besides, you didn't miss anything, we were all asleep, and it's not so bad sleeping through the New Year, is it?"

"Yes it is, we're supposed to party!" Asuka replied. "And being immune to one billion and one other strains of this is a good thing?" Asuka said sarcastically. "Just try not to get us all sick again, ok baka?"

"I promise, Asuka." Shinji said. "Now, I'll be right back with some soup, ok?"

"Hurry back, I'm hungry!" Asuka said. "And thank you, baka, for taking care of me. You'd make a pretty good doctor."

"I'm not that good, Asuka." Shinji said. "I'm just glad I can help."

"You're so modest, Shinji." Asuka said. "Just something else to love about you."

As Shinji left his own room with Asuka in bed to get the soup started, he heard three other people shout miserably for him to help them.

"Oh boy…" Shinji muttered as he tried to figure out where to go first. "What a way to ring in the New Year…"

* * *

A/N: I do not own Evangelion or any of the characters, GAINAX and the other distributors of NGE related material do. I am simply using them as a backdrop for my fanfic.

So to everyone out there reading, Happy New Year (2018) everyone!

Timelines are very important to me! So, this one shot takes place in the large gap between Episode VI and Episode VII, roughly a year after the Battle of the Geofront, and the end of Rejected Third Impact. The title is a reference to _How the Grinch Stole Christmas_ , though instead Asuka saves it by cooking in poor Shinji's stead.

The incident referred to several times by everyone in the chapter is the third one shot I did under the _NGE: Legacy – One Shots_ story titled _Cooking Frenzy_. Asuka and Mari decide if Shinji can cook, it can't be that hard, and attempt to it themselves, only to spectacularly fail by somehow setting a rice cooker on fire and nearly killing Shinji with what they had made. So, the hesitation on Mari's part, and Asuka's own nerves can be explained by that one, serious incident.

But Asuka pulls it off, while trying desperately not to cause the same things as last time. After having watched Shinji cook for a year, and using his trusty cookbook, she But Asuka pulls it off, while trying desperately not to cause the same things as last time. After having watched Shinji cook for a year, and using his trusty cookbook, she makes a very delicious, traditional European Christmas Dinner, or some variation of that tradition, complete with enough food to feed them three times over.

As I said before, and will always say at the end of anything, please leave comments, as I would like to try to improve the story going forward any way I can. And, hell, constructive criticism is a good thing.

* * *

つづく


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